Just your Average Demigod
by Bolt and Chi-Chi
Summary: I hated school. Bad enough that teachers automatically decided I was cheating when I got a good grade on a test.  Bad enough that I had absolutely no friends. And that was before my cousin started going crazy
1. Chapter 1

**Bolt: Chichi, do you know what this is? **

**ChiChi: You're going to tell me.**

**Bolt: It's our FIRST FANFIC! Yay! As such, please do not flame. All flames will be given to our favorite pyromaniac with your name and address.**

**ChiChi: By the way, we don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. If we did, the world would be in great peril.**

I hated school.

Bad enough that teachers automatically decided I was cheating when I got a good grade on a test. Bad enough that I couldn't raise my hand without them shooting me dirty looks. Bad enough that I had absolutely no friends.

And that was before my cousin started going crazy.

Let me back up a bit.

My cousin and I went to Yancy Academy. It was a snobby, private school in upstate New York for 'difficult' children with rich parents. We both fit into the difficult standard, but our parents were most definitely not rich.

Well, his parent. Singular. During the holidays, we both lived in New York City with his mom, who was my aunt, and her husband, who was a jerk. But he made enough money to send us to schools like Yancy, while Aunt Sally struggled to make ends meet for herself.

Why did we have to go to private school? Like I said, we're difficult. Neither of us had lasted more than a year in one school. We always got kicked out by June, for different reasons. In fact, Percy and I had become sort of infamous in the New York private school system. Percy and Quinn Jackson, the bane of teachers everywhere.

Percy is actually pretty smart, and teachers try to encourage him sometimes. But he's dyslexic, and ADHD, so they eventually get frustrated and give up on him. He's also kind of accident-prone. For some reason things always seem to blow up around him. Literally. One time he exploded our school bus by accidentally shooting a cannonball at it.

And me? I'm not dyslexic, or ADHD, and I don't blow up school busses. But there's something strange about me. I don't know what. But whenever I got a good grade, teachers would suspect that I'd cheated, not believing me when I explained how hard I'd studied for the test. Whenever anything went wrong, I was the one who was blamed. Percy said that there was something about my eyes, dark and almond-shaped, that made me look like a troublemaker. But teachers didn't care. They always found some trivial reason to expel me in the end.

That's why I was so happy on our field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. School was almost over, and we'd both managed to avoid expulsion…so far. Percy wasn't as optimistic.

"Come on!" I smiled at him as we sat on the edge of the fountain in front of the museum with his friend Grover. Technically Grover was my friend too, but I always got the feeling that he didn't like me that much. He always cringed whenever I went near him.

"We've almost made it, Percy!" I encouraged him, pulling at my dumb Yancy uniform skirt. "One more month and we've lasted the whole school year!"

"Easy for you to say, Quinn" Percy muttered, running his fingers through his shaggy black hair. "You've got _two_ teachers that like you."

I shook my head. "Uh-uh. Bruner doesn't like me nearly as much as he likes you." Our Latin teacher, who was currently sitting in his wheelchair by a table, reading a book, did like Percy a lot. He was nice to me, too, but I could always see some of the instinctive mistrust teachers have for me in his eyes.

It was weird, I decided, that the only teacher who actually liked me was the one I couldn't stand. Mrs. Dodds, our pre-algebra teacher, was butt-ugly and totally nasty to everyone except for me. For some reason she thought that I was a perfect angel and that Percy was devil spawn.

Percy sighed. "I wish Bruner would stop putting so much pressure on me," he grumbled. "I mean, I'm not a genius."

I glanced at Grover, who was oddly quiet. I mean, he's a quiet guy in general, but now he seemed especially silent. Then he glanced at Percy and said, "Can I have your apple?" My cousin shot the other boy an exasperated look before nodding.

I heard a whine coming from my feet. I glanced down to see a large black and tan face staring back at me, obviously looking for a scratch behind the ears. I willingly complied, and his tail thumped happily against the ground.

"See, Percy?" I smiled. "Pinkie believes in you." Pinkie barked in agreement, and Percy smiled a little.

Pinkie followed me everywhere, which was a little weird, because I'd seen girls at Yancy get in trouble for hiding a Chihuahua in their rooms. But Pinkie was a 110 pound German Shepard, and for some reason no one said anything about him. He'd been following me around ever since we got him when I was six. Literally. If I walked out of the room, Pinkie followed me. I don't think he'd let me out of sight once in his life, except when I shut him out of the bathroom. And even then, he'd lay down right in front of the door. But most people just acted as if he wasn't even there.

"Nice going back there, dyslexia!" I groaned and turned to see Nancy stalking towards us, a smirk on her fat, freckled face. She was talking about how Percy had blanked on a question Bruner had asked him in the museum.

"It's called dyslexic." Percy snapped. "And I'd rather be here for trouble with reading than because I'm a chronic shoplifter, klepto-girl."

She just smirked wider, flipping her red hair over her shoulder. "I steal things because I _like_ to. Do you _like_ having mush for brains?"

Percy jumped up, his hands balling into fists.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Grover cried, standing up and trying to force his way between Percy and the redhead. "Let's just calm down!"

"Percy…" I warned, standing up as well. The principal had specifically told him that if he got in any trouble during this trip he'd make sure he was expelled. Pinkie growled.

For a second, I thought Percy was going to sit down, but then Nancy started talking again. "Face it reject." She rolled her eyes and sneered. "You'll always be a loser."

I didn't really see what happened next. But something must have, because there was a big splash, and then Nancy was sitting in the fountain, wailing, "Percy _pushed_ me!"

"I did not!" he yelled. "You must have tripped or something- "

But it was too late, because just then a voice that grated like metal yelled, "Percy Jackson!"

We all turned to see Mrs. Dodds stalking towards us, a scowl on her wrinkled, century-old face. "I want to talk to you _right_ _now_!"

"It was me!" Grover suddenly yelped, which surprised me, because he was terrified of Mrs. Dodds. "_I_ pushed her- " And that I doubted, because for one thing, his voice was trembling like mad, and for another, Grover was Mr. Uber-pacifist.

"Enough, Mr. Underwood!" Mrs. Dodds snapped at him. "_Now_, Mr. Jackson!"

"Hey, nice try G-man," Percy sighed, his shoulders slumping as he turned and trudged after Mrs. Dodds, who was leading him back into the building. Grover whimpered as they left, for some reason staring at Mr. Bruner.

I sat back down at the fountain and sighed. Grover did too, although he still seemed anxious. For a while, nothing happened. All around us, spoiled rich juvenile delinquents laughed and pickpocketed random tourists. I ate my lunch. Mr. Bruner closed his book and went inside. Pinkie yawned and went to sleep.

Then suddenly, I got one of my headaches. "Argh…" I moaned, clapping my hands onto my head as the buzzing in my ears started. This was common for me; the doctor had diagnosed me with having chronic migraines. Usually this was just a low-grade pressure around my forehead and a small buzzing in my ears. But this one was killer. Grover suddenly froze, his eyebrows furrowed like he was in deep concentration.

Then my headache was gone. Or, at least, back to normal. I sat up, and Grover turned to me. I glanced at him, surprised. He usually tried to avoid speaking to me as much as possible.

"Listen Quinn," he said, and his voice was strangely urgent. "Mrs. Dodds never existed."

I stared. "What?"

"When Percy comes out, he'll ask about Mrs. Dodds. No one will know who he's talking about. Pretend that you don't either. For as long as he keeps asking. She. Never. Existed." He placed uncharacteristic emphasis on the last three words.

I hesitated, unsure of what to do. But just then, Percy came out of the building, followed by Mr. Bruner. Mrs. Dodds wasn't with them. I saw Nancy say something to Percy, which seemed to confuse him. On impulse, I decided to do what Grover had said.

Percy walked straight up to us. "Where's Mrs. Dodds?" he asked me.

"Who?" I glanced up at him and brushed my brown bangs out of my eyes. I kept my brow furrowed and my voice questioning. I always was a good liar.

Percy stared at me for a moment, like he was trying to detect a falsehood in my face. But then he turned to Grover. "Grover, where's Mrs. Dodds? Our pre-algebra teacher?"

Unfortunately, Grover wasn't as good a liar as me. He hesitated for a split second before asking, "Percy, what are you talking about?" And he wouldn't look Percy in the eye, which made me want to sigh. He'd give the game away. As Percy glared at us once more and turned to go question other Yancy kids, I leaned over to Grover and whispered, "You owe me." He just cringed again.

"I wonder where Mrs. Dodds went."

I suppressed an urge to roll my eyes at the ceiling. In the week since our field trip, Percy had taken to springing the question on random people at random times.

Instead, I sighed and flipped onto my stomach, staring over his pillow at him. "Percy, how long are you going to keep this up?" I asked, making my voice sound concerned. "Did you hit your head or something when you went back into the museum?"

"No, I…" He hesitated, and then shook his head. "If I told you what actually happened, you'd think I was insane."

"I already do." Pinkie barked agreement.

Percy shrugged. "Alright then, nothing left to lose. Mrs. Dodds started yelling at me and turned into a crazy bat lady, then Mr. Bruner threw me a pen that became a sword, and I sliced Mrs. Dodds in half and she exploded."

I stared at him. "You _are_ crazy." This time, I wasn't lying.

He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, so everyone tells me." Just then, Grover walked in.

Percy immediately turned to face the taller boy. "Grover, was there ever a Mrs. Dodds?"

As usual, Grover hesitated for an instant before saying, "Percy, you really need to stop playing this game." Quite honestly, I was pretty sure that it was Grover's fault Percy hadn't given up yet.

Grover glanced at me and cringed, as usual. "Uh, Quinn…"

I sighed and slid off of Percy's bed. "Yeah, yeah, I know, it's after curfew, I'll get killed if they find me in the boy's dormitory, yada yada yada…" I gave Percy a quick hug and then waved to Grover before leaving, Pinkie close on my heels.

As I thought about it that night though, lying in my bed while my roommate's snores filled our dorm, I wondered why Grover had started this game in the first place. Really, to me, it was just a game. I didn't see any point in lying to Percy.

But what was really strange was that everyone else seemed to be in on it too. I'd seen Percy ask other people about Mrs. Dodds, and none of them knew who he was talking about. We had a new pre-algebra teacher, and people just acted like she'd been here forever.

It was all very strange, I decided as I fell asleep.

If only I'd known exactly how strange things were going to get…


	2. Chapter 2

**Bolt: Chappie number twooo! yay! WHOOOOOOO!**

**ChiChi: Somebody gave her sugar. Said somebody has now been knocked out and stuffed into a black body bag.**

**Bolt: Weeeee are totally awesome, but are not Rick Riordan! Weee also have lost our copy of The Lightning theif, but know the plot pretty well. **

**ChiChi: Please review. Reviews make my little Chihuahua tail wag.**

* * *

><p>Finally, I was done the year. And, despite my earlier optimism, I knew that I was done at Yancy as well. My English teacher had decided, on absolutely no evidence, that I had plagiarized my last essay, simply because it was an A-worthy paper. The principal had called Aunt Sally to tell her that I would not be invited back next year.<p>

Percy was done too. Ever since our trip to the museum, he seemed to be getting increasingly cranky. His grades were even worse than usual, and one day he snapped and called one of the teachers an old sod. To make matters worse, I laughed, earning us both a week's worth of detentions. And again, Aunt Sally was called, this time about Percy.

"So, here we are again," Percy sighed as we stood at the bus stop, waiting for the Greyhound to Manhattan.

"Yup," I muttered, my hands shoved in my jean short pockets, staring down at my black army boots. Pinkie whimpered and nudged me with his nose.

"Hey! Guys!"

We turned to see Grover racing towards us with his usual funny hop-run gait, his brown curls covered by a rasta cap. "Hey!" he smiled as he reached us. "Were you two just gonna head off without saying bye to your friend?"

"Sorry, man," Percy shrugged. "I guess we've just moved schools so much that we're used to leaving unannounced."

"Oh…" Grover didn't really seem to be paying attention; he was glancing fugitively around the station.

"Looking for more kindly ones?" Percy asked. I had no idea what he was talking about, but Grover blanched.

"Wha- What?"

"I heard you and Bruner talking last night," Percy said.

"Oh, well, you know," Grover started babbling, "I was just telling him that I was really worried about you, because you know, there was no Mrs. Dodds, and - "

"Grover," Percy shook his head. "You are a _really_ bad liar." I snickered, while Grover hesitated. Then he pulled a small card out of his pocket and handed it to Percy. I glanced over his shoulder; it said something about Half-Blood Hill.

"What's that?" I asked.

"Uh, it's my…summer home," Grover shuffled his feet, still staring around the station. "Maybe you guys could…uh…come visit me sometime."

I stared. I'd forgotten that practically everyone at Yancy besides Percy and I were filthy stinking rich. I could see Percy's green eyes harden as he opened his mouth – probably to say something mean. I interrupted.

"Thanks Grover," I smiled, at the same time shooting Percy a warning look.

"Uh-huh…" Grover still seemed distracted. "Uh, mind if I go to New York with you guys? I gotta be there anyways…"

"No problem," I agreed. We all boarded the bus together. Percy and Grover started talking about sports, so I stared out the window, scratching Pinkie behind the ears as we started moving.

About halfway through the ride, though, the bus broke down. "What the…?" the bus driver muttered, getting out. Around us, tourists began stirring and muttering to each other.

Percy stood up. "Where are you going?" I asked. He gestured out the window.

"Looks like a farmer's market."

"Okay." I stood up too. Grover followed, although he seemed very nervous for some reason as we all left, Pinkie following as usual.

There wasn't much at the market. We poked around for a bit, until I glanced up to see Grover staring at something across the road. I followed his gaze to three old ladies knitting on a bench.

"Hey, Percy," I snickered. "I think those grandmas are staring at you." For some reason, Grover moaned as I said that. Percy glanced at the old ladies and smirked.

"Hah. I think those socks are a little big for me, though." That was true. The two on the ends were knitting some neon blue socks that were probably big enough to fit around my waist, while the middle one held a basket full of yarn.

The middle grandma took out a giant pair of scissors. Really, why did they have all this oversized stuff? Then she leaned forwards and snipped the yarn.

I snorted. "Very melodramatic."

Grover was whimpering. "She- she snipped the string! Did you see that? She snipped the string."

Percy and I stared at him. "Dude, are you okay?" my cousin asked.

"Sixth grade," the curly-haired boy was moaning. "Always sixth grade." He was staring at Percy with wide eyes.

Just then, the bus roared back to life. "Everybody in!" the driver yelled. We all piled in as we got back on the road. I zoned out again as Grover kept muttering and twitching.

When we finally reached New York, Percy seemed pretty pissed. Quite honestly, I couldn't blame him, with the way Grover was acting. As soon as we got off the bus, Grover asked us to wait for him while he went to the bathroom. Once Grover was out of sight, however, Percy immediately turned and started walking.

"Hey, hey!" I ran after him, Pinkie on my heels. "Where are you going? I thought…"

My cousin glanced back at me. "Do you really want Grover to see where we live?"

My shoulders slumped at the thought. "Guess not," I muttered. We quickly climbed into a cab and headed for home.

"You got any money?"

"No."

I sighed. Percy should have known better than to try and lie to Gabe about money. Somehow that guy had a cash-radar programmed into his pea-sized brain.

Sure enough, Gabe accurately predicted exactly how much money Percy had. Percy fished it out of his jeans pocket and threw it on the table angrily.

"There. I hope you lose."

"Your report card just got here!" Gabe yelled as we left to go to our room. "I wouldn't be so smart mouthed!"

Percy growled as we opened the door to…well, what used to be our room. I stared around, wide eyed, at the complete mess that it had become since the Christmas holidays.

"Gabe," Percy growled. "I'm gonna kill him…"

"Don't," I sighed. "I hate him just as much as you…" Percy cast a skeptical glance in my direction. "Okay, you hate him more. Because he hates you more." That was a sad but true fact. I guess Gabe's animal instincts, the only thing that really kept him alive, in my opinion, saw Percy as a challenge to the throne of 'alpha-male' in this house. Or maybe it was because Percy was Aunt Sally's real child, while I was just her dead sister's kid. Whatever the reason, he was a lot nastier to Percy than he was to me. But he was plenty nasty to both of us.

I sat down on my bottom bunk. I had always been there, mostly because I'm scared of heights, but also because that way Pinkie could sleep on the bed with me. Percy slept on the top bunk.

Shoving car magazines and empty beer bottles off of my bed, I sighed. "He trashed our room." I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. I'm not really a teary person. _At all. _You could ask any of the kids in any of my schools. I scared the living crap out of most of them. Percy said that it was my eyes, again. Quite honestly, my eyes were my favorite feature, despite all the trouble they got me into.

Percy sat down next to me on my bunk. "Yeah, he trashed our room. What did you expect, really?"

I didn't answer. But just then, the door opened, and Aunt Sally came in.

"There you two are!" she smiled at us. I couldn't help but smile back. My aunt is like that. She has the most beautiful smile in the world. Sometimes I wished that she was my real mom, not just my adoptive mom.

"Come here and give me a hug!" she laughed. We both jumped up and hugged her.

"Oh, you two have grown so much since Christmas!" she sighed, holding each of us out at arm's length. I wrinkled my nose, knowing that that wasn't true; I was still very small for my age.

Aunt Sally glanced around the room, her eyes a little sad. "Sorry about the room. Gabe wanted a place to read his car magazines."

"He needs a whole room for that? Can't he do that in a chair?" Percy snapped. "Mom- "

"Sally!" Gabe roared from the other room. "Bean dip!"

She ignored him. "Guess what!" she smiled. "I have a surprise for you two!"

"What?" I asked, excitement kindling. We so rarely got surprises – there never was enough money.

"We're going to the beach! I rented our usual place for three whole days!"

Percy and I gasped. "When do we leave?"

"As soon as I get changed."

"Yes!" Percy pumped a fist in the air, while I started laughing from sheer happiness.

"Sally!" Gabe stuck his ugly head into the doorway. "Where's that bean dip?"

"Coming, dear," she sighed. "I'll make extra, as well, so that you can have plenty while the kids and I are gone on our trip."

"Right, your _trip_." Gabe's ugly, beady eyes turned towards Percy and I. "I want them kids' words that they won't get one scratch on my car."

I just rolled my eyes. "Sure thing, Gabe." Percy, however, had to point out the obvious.

"We're twelve," he snapped. "It's not like we'll be driving."

Gabe leaned forward to prod Percy in the chest with a fat, ugly finger. "Not. One. Scratch."

Percy sighed. "Sure thing, Gabe," he echoed me.

"That's right. A man commands respect in his house," Gabe nodded in what he probably considered an important way; it just made him look a little ill in my opinion. "That bean dip had better be on the table in five minutes, Sally." He ambled out, leaving behind the stench of beer and cigar smoke.

Aunt Sally turned to us. "Oh, cheer up you two," she smiled. "Soon we'll be on the beach, and all our troubles will be gone."

I loved the beach.

We stayed in our usual cabin, walked on the beach, threw Frisbees for Pinkie, ate blue ice cream, blue candy, and blue popcorn.

The blue food was my favorite. Gabe had told Aunt Sally there was no such thing as blue food, so ever since she'd been buying and making blue food whenever possible, just to prove him wrong. Which made me very happy.

The beach was perfect. It made me relax in ways that I was unable to do anywhere else. I could see it with Percy too. His eyes were less angry, he smiled more, and he didn't ask me about Mrs. Dodds.

"Aaaah," I sighed, taking a sip of hot coco. "This is the life." And I meant that, despite the wind and rain raging outside. Somehow or another we had a hurricane warning in New York.

"You kidding?" Percy asked, leaning around his mom to look at me. "We've got no power and there's a hurricane going outside."

"I'll take it," Aunt Sally smiled from where she was sitting between us on the couch. "This place has such special memories for me. It's where I met your father, Percy." We both got very quiet. Even Pinkie stopped panting and seemed to listen.

"We stayed the summer here together," Aunt Sally continued, her eyes a little wistful. "He knew I was expecting a baby, but he had to leave on a voyage. And he never came back. He was…lost at sea."

Percy glowered at the flames in the fireplace. I could tell that he didn't believe that any more than I did. But he also looked a little confused. I remembered him telling me that he had some memories of his father. But according to Aunt Sally's story, that couldn't be true.

Aunt Sally smiled at her son. "I wish he could have seen you, Percy. There's so much of him in you; your hair, your eyes…"

"My D+ report cards?" Percy asked. "Mom, why do you keep sending us to boarding school?"

Aunt Sally hesitated. "I…I have too. They told me it was the only way to keep you two safe. It was either that or the place your father had picked out for you."

"He never knew me, but he picked out a school for me?" Percy asked.

"Not really a school. More like a summer camp," Aunt Sally replied.

"What about _her_ father?" Percy jerked his head towards me. "I suppose he wanted her to go to a summer camp too?"

"Actually, no," she smiled slightly. "He was dead set against her going to that summer camp."

"You met my dad?" I whispered, my throat feeling suddenly very dry. Aunt Sally had never mentioned this before.

She glanced at me. "Yes. And you are just like him in so many ways…quiet but not shy, fearless, intelligent…and you both have those dark eyes…" she sighed, while I blinked away tears. I'd always known that my eyes came from my father. They were the one part of me that didn't look just like my mother, who looked just like her older sister. In fact, sometimes people assumed that I was my Aunt's daughter and Percy the distant relative. It wasn't fair, but there you have it.

"Quinn, your father was…" Aunt Sally paused, apparently searching for the right word "friends…more or less…with Percy's father. And when Percy's father wanted Percy to go to this summer camp, your father refused to let you go." She sighed again.

"But why haven't you sent Percy there?" I asked. "And if it's safe, then who cares what my father thinks? He left me, didn't he? Even when my mother died he did nothing."

Aunt Sally winced. "Don't judge him too harshly. And as for why I haven't sent you both there…It's because it may mean saying goodbye to you. Forever."

Just then, a knock sounded on the door.

"Who the heck could that be?" Percy asked, standing up.

"No! Percy!" Aunt Sally screamed as he walked to the door. "Don't!"

But Percy had already pulled open the door. Standing in the pouring rain, panting, rasta cap askew, was…

"Grover?" Percy and I said at the same time.

"What – were – you – thinking?" he panted. "Been searching all night…"

But I was staring, wide-eyed, at Grover's lower half. It looked as though he were wearing some sort of fuzzy pants, but as I looked closer, I realized that that wasn't the case at all. His _legs_ were completely covered in fur, and where his feet should have been were a pair of cloven hooves.

_I'm dreaming_, I decided. I pinched my arm. It hurt a lot. _Okay, not a dream. Hallucination?_

"_Dis Imortilis!_" Grover yelled, interrupting my thoughts. "It's right on my tail, Ms. Jackson!"

"Percy!" Aunt Sally yelled, standing up and grabbing Percy by the shoulders to make him look at her. "Percy what happened that you didn't tell me?"

"Uh, there was this math teacher that turned into a bat lady, and some grandmas who cut a string…" he muttered.

"Everybody in the car now!" she screamed, letting go of his shoulders. Her eyes were wide and fearful – I decided to do what she said.

"C'mon Pinkie," I cried, jumping up. He barked and followed me as we ran to the car. I jumped into the passenger's seat, while Pinkie sat in the back with Grover and Percy.

"So," Percy said as Aunt Sally started driving as fast as possible. "From the waist down, my best friend is a donkey?"

"_Blah-ha-ha-ha!_" Grover let out a funny bleating noise. "I'm a _goat_ from the waist down. You're lucky I am your friend; there are some satyrs who would trample you underfoot for such an insult!"

"Yeah, Percy," I snickered, twisting around to face the two boys. "How would you like being told you have the ass of an ass?"

Percy frowned. "Satyrs? Like in Mr. Bruner's myths?"

"Was Mrs. Dodds a myth?"

"Oh, so can we talk about her now?" I asked.

Percy gaped at me. "I _knew_ you were lying!"

"You mean you knew Grover was lying."

"It doesn't matter!" Grover bleated. "We used the Mist - "

"The what?" Percy glanced at me for an explanation. I just shrugged.

"To make everybody forget about her, except for Quinn – I just asked her to lie to you. I still don't know why she listened."

"I don't either," I pointed out.

"We hoped you'd think you'd imagined it all. But what's after us right now is _much_ worse than Mrs. Dodds."

I glanced at Aunt Sally. "Just one more mile," she was whispering to herself. "One more mile, please…"

Suddenly, a loud BOOM sounded in my ears. The car went flying into the air. The last thing I remembered was turning and grabbing Pinkie by the collar – he wasn't wearing a seatbelt…

And then everything went black.


	3. Chapter 3

**Bolt: Hellooo Universe! Chapter number 3 here!**

**ChiChi: Thank you to all who reviewed! You make us smile.**

**Bolt: Okay, so this chapter is not short!**

**ChiChi: The first two were long. The average chapter will be this length.**

**Bolt: DISCLAIMER TIME! Bolt does not own the world of Percy Jackson. Neither does her Chihuahua.**

* * *

><p>"How do you feel?"<p>

What kind of an idiotic question was that? My entire body was aching, and my left hand was completely on fire with pain. "Like crap," I muttered.

There was silence for a moment, and then the voice spoke again. "Well, it was actually supposed to be a rhetorical question. I didn't expect you to reply. So you're awake now?"

"I guess," I muttered. "Why's it all dark?"

The voice chuckled. "Because your eyes are closed."

Oh. I opened them, and immediately had to blink in the bright light. "Argh…" Slowly, I sat up, keeping my weight off of my left hand, which was wrapped in a gauzy bandage, and looked around.

"Shoot," I muttered. "Where the hell am I?"

"The Big House." I located the voice to a boy a few years older than me, leaning against the doorframe. Blonde, blue-eyed, and athletic, he looked like a teenage male model, except for the long white scar that ran down his cheek.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Thank you, Captain Obvious. I could see from here that it's a big house."

He chuckled again. "True. But this is actually _called_ the Big House."

"By who?"

"You're a smart one, aren't you?" He walked over to the couch where I was sitting and held out a hand. I took it, and he pulled me to my feet.

Just then, a loud bark sounded from outside, and a black-and-tan blur came hurtling into the room.

"Whoa!" I cried, lifting my arms to shield my face from a sudden attack of dog drool. "Down, Pinkie!"

The blonde boy chuckled. "That dog's been driving everyone around here crazy. He even tried to bite Argus."

"Oh, sorry," I muttered, scratching the Shepard behind his ears. "He's a bit overprotective."

"It's fine," the blonde boy shrugged, and then beckoned with his hand for me to follow. "Come on. I'll give you the grand tour."

"And by the way," he smiled crookedly at me. "My name isn't Captain Obvious. It's Luke."

* * *

><p>I was really surprised at how calmly I was taking all of it.<p>

The Greek gods and goddesses were real. Okay, I'm cool with that. My Latin teacher was a centaur. No biggie. My ADHD cousin defeated a giant bull man without a weapon. Whatever.

What I was really having trouble accepting was what happened to Aunt Sally.

Luke seemed really nice. He took me around the camp, showing me all of the cool activities. At any other time I would have been so excited to go somewhere where I could throw knives and not get in trouble for it. But at that moment, all I felt was resistance.

She wasn't dead. She couldn't be. For some reason I felt absolutely certain of that one fact.

"And this is where…" Luke trailed of as he realized that I wasn't even looking at the building he was pointing to. "I guess you're kind of upset right now."

I shrugged. No, I wasn't upset. Because she wasn't gone.

"She's not dead," I said, glancing up at Luke. He blinked as I focused my eyes on him. Another weird effect of my eyes. Thank you, dad.

"Uh…" he muttered, shuffling his feet uncomfortably.

"There wasn't a body, was there?" I persisted.

"Uh, no…" he shrugged. "So, I guess you could be right…"

"Thank you." I glanced away, and he seemed to breathe a little easier.

"Come on," he smiled. "Let's get you settled in. You're staying in my cabin."

"Why am I in your cabin?" I asked as we started towards the semicircle of little houses.

He hesitated. "I haven't told you why you're at this camp, have I?"

I shook my head, and he continued, "What do you know about your dad?"

"I know that I have his eyes. I know that he met my mom in the jewelry store where she worked. I know…" I hesitated. I have pretty good instincts, and right then, they were telling me not to mention that he didn't want me going to this camp. "That's it," I finished.

Luke looked puzzled. "Hmmm…not much help. He could be anyone, really."

"Uh, _be_?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. "He's long gone."

Luke shook his head. "No, he's not, Quinn. He's one of the Greek gods."

I stared. "O-kaaay," I said slowly. "And who's your godly daddy?"

"Hermes," he replied, as if it were no big deal. "God of merchants, thieves, travelers… That's why you're staying in my cabin. Hermes isn't picky about who he sponsors. All the undetermined kids go there. And there's a lot of them," he added in an undertone, almost as if he were talking to himself.

"Undetermined meaning that we don't know who my father is."

"Correct."

"And Percy?" I asked.

"Undetermined as well," Luke shrugged. "Once he wakes up, he'll join us in the Hermes cabin."

"So how do we find out who our parents are?" I asked as we stopped by the campfire.

"They might send a sign to claim you," Luke said, but his blue eyes were full of doubt.

"You don't sound so sure," I challenged. He just shrugged.

I let my gaze wander over the cabins. Okay. After everything that had gone on – the camp director summoning coke out of thin air, a milkshake that tasted like sour blue gummy worms completely curing my broken wrist – I supposed I could believe this.

I ran over the names of the Greek gods I knew in my mind. Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Apollo, Hermes, Dionysus, Ares, and Hephaestus. Plus a bunch of minor gods. Any one of them could be my father. Which god would have scary eyes?

I glanced over at Luke again. "What are Ares kids like?"

He opened his mouth, but a voice behind him interrupted whatever he'd been about to say. "We're the best!"

I glanced over at the newcomers: three tall, beefy girls with nasty smiles on their faces.

"You're not a child of Ares, runt," the girl in the middle scoffed, looking me up and down. "You're too puny."

"Clarisse, be nice," Luke sighed, as if he knew this was an impossibility.

"Oh, I'm nice," she smiled wickedly, shaking stringy brown hair out of her eyes. "Have you seen the bathroom, runt? I can give you a close-up look of a toilet." The girls behind her snickered, glancing at each other with glee in their eyes. They'd obviously done this before.

I sighed, and turned my gaze up to stare Clarisse straight in the face. Her sneer faded, replaced by a look of uncertainty. "No, thank you," I said clearly.

She hesitated for a moment, and then shrugged. Beckoning towards the other girls, she turned and trudged away.

Luke stared at me. "Handy trick."

I shrugged like it was no big deal. "Sure, if you want. It's basically the reason I have no friends. Everyone's afraid of me."

"Hmmm…" Luke's gaze slid towards me, a mischievous smile playing on his lips. "_I'm_ not afraid of you."

Holding back a giggle, I narrowed my eyes up at him. "Not even a little?" I teased.

He laughed. "Okay. Maybe a bit." I laughed too as we entered the Hermes cabin.

It was crowded. And dirty. At least twenty kids were crammed in one room; some sat on beds, while others were just asleep on the floor.

"Here." Luke pointed to an empty space. "You can have this spot."

I stared at it, and then looked back up. "I don't have anything. Okay," I acquiesced, glancing down at Pinkie. "Aside from a giant overprotective German Shepard, I don't have anything."

"Don't worry," Luke shrugged. "Lots of people don't. I'll swipe you and Percy some stuff from the school store. Then once we figure out what you're good at, we'll get you a weapon." Ignoring my mouth hanging open, he glanced at a clock on the wall and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Alright everyone!" he called. "It's time for sword-fighting practice! Let's move out!"

_Sword-fighting?_ I thought as we all piled out of the cabin. _This camp is awesome._

* * *

><p><strong>Bolt: OKAY! So the only difference (I hope) between this story and Rick Riordan's is that I made Luke a little younger. It always bothered me how he was so much older than all the other characters - now he's more like 15 instead of 19.<strong>

**ChiChi: Review! Please!**

**Bolt: Every time you read this story and review, an adorable fluffy little animal with big eyes is born.**

**ChiChi: Please, think of the fluffy.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Bolt: WE'RE ALIVE! You might not believe us, but it's truuuuee!**

**ChiChi: Bolt went on vacation to a place with no internet. As part of her brain, I was forced to go as well.**

**Bolt: You liked it. ANYWAYS, Chappie numero 4! It's actually kind of short, so we're sorry if you're angry after that long wait. FORGIVE US!**

**ChiChi: And review. By the way, Bolt and ChiChi don't own the Percy Jackson series.**

* * *

><p>And the awesomeness continued.<p>

I couldn't tell why on earth my father wouldn't have wanted me to go to this camp. According to Luke, it was the only real safe place for demigods. And it was just so _fun_!

As it turned out, I was pretty good at everything. Except arts and crafts. I couldn't make anything for the life of me, other than what looked like a giant lump of poo, which basically eliminated Hephaestus as my father. But I did reasonably well in footraces and canoeing, and was pretty good at sword fighting as well. What I really exceled at, though, was archery. I could hit the bull's eye every single time. Luke suggested that I could be a daughter of Apollo, but I doubted it. I wasn't really musically talented, got sunburned easily, and poetry put me to sleep.

Percy, on the other hand, struggled. I should probably mention that he woke up the day after me. He said that the only thing he was really good at was canoeing, but I thought he was pretty good at sword fighting too, if only we could find him a balanced sword. He even managed to disarm Luke one day, and Luke was _really_ good.

We still saw Grover from time to time. He seemed really down, because apparently it'd been his job to protect us, and he'd been unconscious for the same time as me. It didn't seem fair, but there it was.

That Thursday, we were all hanging out in the Hermes cabin when a voice came from the doorway.

_"Ahem_".

I glanced up to see Annabeth Chase, from the Athena cabin, standing with a scroll in her arms. I liked Annabeth, even though I really didn't know her. Her eyes were almost as scary as mine.

"Everyone gather around," she called over the usual Hermes clamor. "I've got some plans for tomorrow." Oh, right. She was our team captain for capture the flag.

She crouched down in the middle of the floor and spread the scroll out. It looked like a map of the forest. "Alright," she began, "I've got some spies on the other side, and they've helped me get a general idea of what the opposing team's setup is."

"Spies?" I muttered to Percy. "This sounds like war or something."

"Defense should be minimal," Annabeth was saying, circling an area on the map. "Since Ares's strategy favors offence. So we need to have an impeccable defense. Travis and Connor," she pointed towards the Stoll twins, "you two will be in charge of that." That was probably a good decision, since the Stolls would have been terrible at offence – they're the clumsiest guys I've ever met.

In a few swift motions, Annabeth drew three lines on the map. "We're going to have three prongs of our attack – Lee from Apollo is heading this one, but it's just a diversion. Michael is leading this one, but it's just a diversion too. Of course, if either of them get the chance to retrieve the flag, they'll go for it."

"Luke." She glanced up at the blonde boy, and I noticed her blush slightly as she said his name. "You're going to be leading our real attack. Pick two or three people to go with you."

He nodded professionally, and Annabeth turned away. "Alright everyone. Go back to whatever you were doing."

As everyone meandered off, I stood up, scratched Pinkie behind the ears, and wandered over to where Percy, Luke and Annabeth were talking.

"-I don't know, perhaps…" Annabeth paused as I approached, her stormy gray eyes looking me up and down. Well, more just down and down – she was my age, but at least five inches taller than me.

"Hey, I was just wondering whether there's any doggie armor in the magical toolshed of wonder over there," I said, noticing Annabeth raise her eyebrows at my word choice. "Because I don't want Pinkie getting hurt, and he's not going to let me go play Capture the Flag unless he's right at my heels." As if to accent what I was saying, Pinkie whimpered and nudged my hand.

The blonde girl narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. "Well….he should be allowed, seeing as all magical items are fair game-"

"Excuse me?" Now I raised my eyebrows. "Magical items? He's a German Shepard."

"Not really. If he was a real dog, he wouldn't have been able to get into camp. Plus, Percy had to give him permission to cross the boundary."

I glanced at my cousin. He shrugged and muttered, "Mom told me to."

"Oh." For a moment there was silence. Then Luke reached down to pat Pinkie on the head.

"Don't worry, Quinn. I think I saw some leather armor in the shed. We can cut it to fit Pinkie. He can join us on our offensive mission." Noticing my look of surprise, he flashed me a grin. "Yeah, you heard me. You're coming with me to get the flag. That bow of yours will come in handy."

"Cool! We're _so_ going to win this!" Even as I said it, I noticed Annabeth looking at me sourly. What was her problem?

* * *

><p>That evening, everyone gathered in the pavilion to get ready for capture the flag. As Luke and I strapped some leather armor onto Pinkie, I laughed at the expression on that doggie face.<p>

"You fierce little warrior, you," I grinned, tugging on his ear. He just whined uncomfortably.

"Attention!" We all turned to look at Mr. Bruner/Chiron, who was standing next to Mr. D. (I did mention that Mr. Bruner was a centaur, right?)

"You all know the rules. No maiming, killing, yada yada yada. Now go play." I briefly wondered how so much apathy could be stored in one person (or god, or whatever), when Annabeth called us all over.

"Blue team! This way!" I fell into step next to Percy, who looked really uncomfortable, glancing every now and then at his sword with loathing.

"Hey there!" I smiled. "Excited?" He just shrugged. I frowned. "What's up?"

He sighed, casting a reproachful glance towards our yellow-haired team leader. "Miss Know-it-all over there told me she wanted me on her team, and then put me on border patrol. Meanwhile, you get to go hunt for the flag with Luke."

"Well she is a daughter of Athena," I pointed out. "I'll bet she's got some reason for putting you where you are. But," I raised my hands as he shot me a glare, "I'll agree, that's kind of harsh."

He shrugged again, and half-smiled at me. "Well, have fun getting the flag." And even though he was upset about his situation, I could tell that he meant it. We _are_ cousins, although really more like brother and sister.

I gave him a quick hug before jogging towards where Luke was standing with a couple of guys from Apollo whose names I didn't know. With a jolt, I realized that I was the only girl member of the group, and the only one, it looked like, under the age of fourteen. The two Apollo guys were looking at me a little uncertainly as I joined them.

Luke smiled at me, though. "There you are Quinn! And Pinkie, of course." Pinkie barked at his name. "Now that we're all here, let's head over the border."

"Adventure and awesome stuff await," I put in as I notched an arrow. The Apollo guys just rolled their eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

**Bolt: Hello! We're BAAAAAAACK!**

**ChiChi: I wish we had a good reason for not updating in a while, but we don't. The reason is, we're just lazy and forgot.**

**Bolt: So, in compensation, this will be a DOUBLE UPLOAD! WHOOHOO!**

**ChiChi: BTW, we aren't Rick Riordan. LOLZ**

**Bolt: Talk like that again and I'll delete you from my brain.**

**ChiChi: Fair enough.**

* * *

><p>"This can't be right."<p>

Luke was frowning ahead into the gloom. "This can't be right," he repeated. "Annabeth said the flag would be here."

"Well, there's no flag," I pointed out. "Now what?"

Luke didn't answer, just bit his lip. To my surprise, he was looking uncertain. The Apollo guys also seemed a little unnerved.

I sighed and kneeled down next to Pinkie. "What say thou, my little doggie friend? Can you find the flag for us?"

Pinkie peered up into my face, and then, for the first time in his life, turned and walked away from me.

"Hey!" I called as loud as I dared, considering the circumstances. "Where're you going?" He turned and barked softly before continuing ahead, nose to the ground.

"I think," Luke spoke suddenly, "he's doing what you asked. Let's follow him."

"We're following a _dog_?" The Apollo guy sounded incredulous.

"A super-smart, magical dog," I corrected, before following the black-and-tan shape through the trees.

After a few minutes, the taller Apollo guy stopped right in his tracks. "I don't believe it."

Sure enough, just past a clump of pine trees was the bright red flag bearing the symbol of Ares. As Annabeth had predicted, there was minimal defense – just three guards, all of whom looked extremely bored.

Luke turned to us. "Right, here's what we'll do. I'm going to go around to the other side. Owen," he pointed to one of the Apollo guys, "you come with me. Quinn and Jack, you two are going to fire into that tree behind the guards. They'll turn to look for you guys, and I'll run in and snatch the flag. Then I'll need you guys to join and cover me. Got it?"

"When do we fire?" I asked as he turned to go.

"Count to thirty."

I started counting under my breath as he and Owen jogged away. Around twenty, I raised my bow and aimed for a huge oak tree across the clearing. Twenty-six. Suddenly, I felt a little panicky. Twenty-seven. What if I missed? Twenty-eight. It was one thing to miss the bull's-eye when there would be no consequences, another if it cost us the game. Twenty-nine.

Thirty.

THWACK! Both of our arrows hit the oak tree at the same time. (And whatever dryad was in that tree was _so_ going to kill me later). Instantly the guards raised their swords and turned towards where we were hidden. In that instant, I saw Luke run out from behind a tree, grab the flag, and dash away. He always did the best in our footraces.

Jack and I turned and ran to meet him, Pinkie racing along beside us. We had only gone three steps when I heard the roar of outrage indicating that our theft had been noticed. I put on an extra burst of speed as we merged with Luke and Owen.

"You little shits!" I glanced back to see the three Ares guys chasing after us. Ironically, the sight of them gave me a burst of confidence. They were slow and heavy, and their huge swords would weigh them down. We were all smaller and swifter, with light weapons. I notched an arrow and sent it flying into the Ares kid's chest.

"Watch your mouth!" I called back as he stumbled from the impact of arrow on armor.

"Keep shooting!" Luke ordered me from up ahead. "You'll get your arrows back at the end of the game!" I notched another arrow and sent it behind me. We were almost to the border. Just a few more feet…

I heard the cheers as we leaped across the brook. As my feet touched the other side, I raised my hands in triumph. "Yes!" Instantly what seemed like the entire blue team swarmed around us, cheering. Although Jack, Owen and I were being congratulated, the center of attention was Luke. Still holding the flag, which now bore the symbol of Hermes, he was lifted up onto the team's shoulders.

Grinning, I looked around for Percy. Finally, I saw him standing in the brook a little ways away, talking to Annabeth, who looked really smug about something. Percy looked, well, pissed.

I pushed my way over to them. "Hey what's - "

A growl interrupted me. At first, I thought it was Pinkie, so I turned to look at him. He _was_ growling, but it wasn't the growl I'd heard. His fur was bristling beneath the leather armor, his eyes focused on something behind me. I turned, just in time to get a glimpse of an enormous monster leaping towards my cousin.

"Percy!" I shrieked.

My arrow hit the beast right between the eyes just as its claws sank into Percy's chest. It was quickly followed by several more, from Chiron and the Apollo campers. The dog-like creature gave an enormous roar, swayed, and crashed onto its side before vaporizing into dust.

"Percy!" I flung aside my bow and ran over to where my cousin was kneeling in the dirt, gasping. Blood dripped from his torn breastplate.

"_Dis Imortiles_!" Annabeth whispered, staring at the place where the giant dog had been. "That's a hellhound! From the fields of punishment! They're not supposed to be able to get in here…"

Chiron cantered over to us. "Quinn, get back. Percy needs medical attention - "

"No, Chiron," Annabeth stepped forward, shaking her head. "Look." Grabbing Percy by the wrist, she pulled him into the stream.

My jaw dropped open. The moment Percy stepped into the water, the three long slices on his chest began to heal at an unreal rate. The skin was actually pulling itself together. My mind reeled at the impossibility of what I was seeing.

Suddenly, the clearing was bathed in a green glow. I raised my eyes to where a holographic-looking green trident was hovering above Percy's head. Luke's voice echoed in my head: _"They might send a sign to claim you."_

Everyone was silent for a moment. Then Chiron kneeled. Slowly, everyone else, even the Ares kids, followed his lead. I hesitated, and then followed suit. I could see the amazement and discomfort in Percy's eyes at the sight of the entire camp bowing to him.

"The lineage is determined," Chiron boomed. "Poseidon – storm bringer, earthshaker…Hail, Percy Jackson, Son of the Sea God."


	6. Chapter 6

**Bolt: Numero dos of this upload :)**

**ChiChi: We own nothing. But we'd love some reviews**

* * *

><p>I stood leaning against Thalia's pine tree (and if you don't know what that is, find out, because I am <em>not<em> in any mood to tell you), feeling my eyebrows pull down into a scowl at the sight of the three figures at the bottom of the hill. Pinkie whined and nudged my leg with his nose, but I just ignored him.

It wasn't fair. There really wasn't anything else to say about it. It just wasn't fair, and I was _pissed_.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Hey." I looked up into Luke's scarred face. "You okay?" I started to nod, but couldn't do it. So instead I did the honest thing, and shook my head, no.

Luke sighed. "Yeah, I figured. You've been moping ever since this quest was announced."

"Gee, I wonder why," I replied sarcastically. Then I glanced up at him and shook my head again. "No, I'm sorry, Luke. I shouldn't take this out on you."

"Wish I could do something to help." Luke half-smiled at me. I just shrugged and turned away. After a moment, I heard him turn and run down the hill towards Percy. They talked for a moment, and then Luke handed Percy something. As he trudged back up the hill, I saw Percy glance up and wave at me. I turned and walked away, my head bowed and my hands shoved deep into my pockets.

The injustice of it all was disgusting. Percy had told me that he'd even asked to bring me as the third member of his quest, but Chiron had said no.

_"Grover here would like to be given the chance to accompany you on this quest. That is, if you wish to have him."_

_I grinned at Grover. "All the way, G-man."_

_Chiron smiled. "Good. And now, as for the third member of your quest -"_

_"Well, that's a no-brainer," I laughed. "Quinn." No way was I going on this quest without my cousin. The whole point, at least secretly, was to rescue my mom – _our_ mom. _

_Now Chiron looked uncomfortable. "Actually, Percy…The third member of your quest has already been chosen. And I'm afraid it's not Quinn Jackson."_

_"What?"_

_Annabeth materialized next to the table, twirling her Yankees cap in her hand. "Sorry, seaweed brain. Looks like you're stuck with me."_

* * *

><p>I lay in my sleeping bag, staring up at the ceiling of the Hermes cabin. I wondered where Percy, Annabeth and Grover were. I wondered where Aunt Sally was.<p>

It wasn't fair. She was my aunt. Practically my mother. And yet I was stuck here in camp instead of going to rescue her. If I didn't deserve to go on that quest, I didn't know who did. Certainly not Miss Know-it-All.

I wasn't going to fall asleep, and I didn't want to stay in bed. Curfew be damned. As quietly as possible – and I'm pretty good at being quiet and sneaky – I unzipped my sleeping bag and padded out the door. Of course, _somehow_ Pinkie realized what I was doing in his sleep, and before I'd even reached the door he was at my side. Luckily, he's pretty good at being quiet too.

The camp looked almost ethereal in the moonlight. I walked past the silent cabins, letting my feet decide where to take me.

They decided on the beach. I stood and stared at the water for a moment. Then, sighing, I sat down on the sand and hugged my legs to my chest.

I watched the ocean. Somewhere out there was Percy's dad. The god who'd fallen in love with Aunt Sally. "Don't you care?" I whispered. "Aren't you worried about her?"

There was no reply. Hopelessness crashed over me. Of course Poseidon didn't care. He was a god, and Aunt Sally was a worthless little human. Why should he care? I put my head down on my knees, feeling the tears start to well up in my eyes, spilling down my cheeks. My breath started to come in gasps at the thought of Aunt Sally in danger, and me not able to do anything about it.

After a few minutes of unabashed sobbing, I realized that there was someone behind me. I turned to see Luke standing in the sand, his hands shoved uncomfortably into his pockets.

"Uh, I saw you leave…" he muttered. "Couldn't sleep?" I nodded. After a moment, he came and sat down next to me.

"Look, Quinn…"he hesitated. "This is obviously hard for you. And I kind of know what you're going through. I know what it's like to feel like you're unable to help somebody you care about, who's in danger." He sighed. "It's the worst feeling in the world." His voice was so melancholy that for a second I wanted to ask what he was thinking about. I decided against it, however.

I nodded. "She's my Aunt," I whispered. "But more like my mother. You get that, right? I _have_ to do something. I can't stay here."

Luke looked at me uncertainly for a moment, and then sighed and stood up. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" I asked as he held out a hand and pulled me to my feet.

"I'm going to nick you some stuff from the camp store, and you're going to go on that quest."

"Thanks Luke," I smiled. He grinned back, and although I noticed something that looked like guilt in his eyes, I ignored it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Bolt: Hellows World! So, I apologize for the not updating thing. I think I convinced myself that I would update every two weeks or something. **

**ChiChi: Actually, she writes a lot slower than that.**

**Bolt: But this story is still very much alive! It's A-LIVE!**

**Chichi: Bolt and Chichi do not own anything. You have been told.**

* * *

><p>My knee bounced up and down as we drove down the Jersey road. Staring out the window, I smiled slightly to myself. I felt confident and excited. I had supplies, my bow and arrows, and my dog. Luke had nicked the camp van, and was driving me to the next Greyhound station, where I'd find out where the other three went. I was on my way to the Underworld.<p>

I was going to rescue Aunt Sally.

Suddenly, Pinkie barked. I turned to frown at him. "What…"

The question died on my lips as Luke sucked in a breath. I peered forward, and my heart gave a jump at the sight of the wreckage in front of me. As Luke stopped the van, I threw open the passenger door and stepped onto the pavement. The word printed on the melted, twisted hunk of metal beside me was illuminated by a street lamp – GREYHOUND.

"Oh, no," I whispered. The three of them had clearly run into some monster or another.

"Quinn?" Luke asked. "Can you see anything?"

I stared at the remains of the Greyhound, and then replied, "They got away. There aren't any bodies."

He breathed a sigh of relief, leaning back in the driver's seat. "That's good. But I guess I can't take you any further. They probably went into the forest."

I nodded slowly. "Right. Thanks for the help, Luke."

He grinned crookedly at me as I shut the passenger door and let Pinkie out the back. As he started the engine again, he muttered, "If I get caught trying to park this thing back at camp, I'm really going to regret helping you." I laughed, and waved as he drove away, then turned and frowned at the wreckage. I knew that the three Quest members had gotten away…but how would I find out where they went?

Pinkie barked again. Oh, right. D'oh.

"Okay, boy, I need you to find Percy, Annabeth and Grover. Which way did they go?"

Pinkie barked once more, and then dashed away, his nose to the ground. I ran after him as we veered away from the road, into the forest.

There were no streetlights in the forest, and I had to go slow to avoid hitting the trees. Pinkie just wove around them without looking up. After a few minutes, though, I noticed that it wasn't so dark anymore. The trees were outlined in a reddish glow. That was weird.

Then I stepped out from behind a huge pine, into bright light. A huge neon sign lit up the entire clearing around me. I narrowed my eyes against the light to read it.

"Auntie M's Garden Emporium?" She really couldn't have any business here – who would come wandering in the forest looking to buy a gnome?

Suddenly, I heard a crash from inside, and a familiar bleating noise. It sounded like…Grover! I grabbed the door handle and yanked, but it was locked.

"_Woof!_" Pinkie nudged me with his nose, and then dashed away. I hesitated for only an instant before following. He led me around the building to a chain-link fence that towered above my head. Someone had put up wood behind it, so I couldn't see in, but I could hear the sounds of a fight going on inside.

"Percy! Duck!" Grover called. His voice was followed by a huge crash, and a shriek.

"Miserable satyr! I'll add you to my collection!"

Anger surged through me. Whatever was in there was attacking my cousin and my friend. And Annabeth, too.

It was going to be killed.

Grabbing ahold of the chain-link, I began to climb, putting my feet in the gaps, until I could see above the fence. All was quiet now, but I could see for myself that the danger wasn't past. Annabeth was nowhere to be seen, while Grover was stirring groggily near a ceramic bear. Percy was at the edge of a clearing full of ceramic lawn statues. He was walking slowly, staring into a glass orb in one hand, towards the figure in the center of the clearing. She was standing shock still, hissing words that I couldn't hear. Only her hair was moving.

Wait…that wasn't hair.

Ew. My gaze locked with that of a ceramic girl about my age as all the pieces fit together in my head. Her eyes were wide in terror.

That did it. I notched an arrow and aimed at Medusa's head. Percy was almost there, his sword held up, but Medusa looked ready to pounce on him. I wasn't taking _any _chances.

"Close your eyes!" I yelled. At the same moment, as the snake-covered head turned towards me, I shut my own eyes and released the arrow.

TWACK-WHOOSH! From this noise, I guessed that my arrow had hit at almost the same time that Percy had swung his sword. For a moment, there was silence, and then a nasty thumping noise.

"Don't look." I was surprised to hear Annabeth's voice – I hadn't seen her in the clearing. Then I remembered that she probably had her Yankees cap – the one that made her turn invisible.

"Okay." I swung my legs over the fence and hopped to the ground before opening my eyes. Percy was standing next to Medusa's head, which lay on the ground. Except for my arrow, which stuck out of the side, it was covered by a veil. Grover was staggering to his feet, while Annabeth glared at me.

"_What_ are _you_ doing here?" she snarled. I froze, my hand still reaching for my arrow. For a second, I was shocked – why did she sound like that? Then anger surged through me.

"Why shouldn't I be?" I replied as I put my arrow back into its quiver. I glared up at her, and she seemed to shrink a little at my eyes. "I deserve to go on this quest as much as you."

"Quinn's right," Percy put in. He was the only one who really looked happy to see me. Grover was cringing, as usual, and Annabeth looked murderous. It probably didn't help that Pinkie chose that moment to leap over the fence and barrel into her.

"How'd you get here, Quinn?" Percy asked.

"Luke helped me," I replied, not noticing how Annabeth's scowl deepened at my words. "He swiped me some stuff and was driving me to the next Greyhound station, when we came across the poor, sad remains of your bus. By the way, what happened?"

"Mrs. Dodds and her twin sisters came and tried to blow us up," Percy informed me.

"Fun. And now," I glanced down at the lump still sitting on the floor. "What are you going to do with the snake-lady's head?"

For a second, there was silence. Then slowly, a smile spread across Percy's face. I grinned back. "Oooh, that's an evil smile. What are you thinking?"

"I think," he said slowly, "I would like to send the gods a little present."

* * *

><p>Despite Annabeth and Grover's criticisms, I thought Percy's sending the gods Medusa's head was brilliant. I mean, they were probably smart enough not to get turned to stone, so what was the harm? It'd make them pay a bit more attention to us. Show them that this quest meant business. Maybe my dad would take some notice of me…<p>

We decided to spend the night out in the forest; no one really wanted to sleep in the gaze of Medusa's ceramic statues. The moment my head hit the grass, however, I found myself standing on the edge of a seemingly endless abyss. A desolate, yellowish sky stretched above me, seemingly much lower than normal.

"_Hello, Quinn."_ The voice that rose from the crack at my feet was the most terrible imaginable. It scraped like metal, hissing into my mind. It belonged in a nightmare. Which I seemed to be having.

"_You've been shielded from my gaze, young demigod,"_ the voice continued. It sounded as though it was trying to be encouraging and friendly, but the metal-on-metal effect could not be overcome. _"But now I see you. You are small, scared, and alone."_

Gee, thanks for the compliment.

"_But it does not _have_ to be that way, my little friend. You could have as much power as you ever dreamed. You could have everything. It's not hard. Just come to me. I can give you _everything_."_

Suddenly, a burst of golden light shone in my eyes. Aunt Sally was hovering in a shower of golden flakes, frozen in an unnatural pose, unseeing. Her face was contorted into an expression of terror.

_No._ I stumbled forward, almost involuntarily. My brain was telling me that this was just a dream, but all my feet could do was carry me forward, toward the edge of the abyss; all my hands could do was reach forward, trying to grasp her outstretched hand.

"_Yes," _the voice purred. _"Yes, come to me."_

"No." A new voice spoke, one I had never heard before. It was deep, rich, and resounded with power. "Begone from this place, Quinn."

Instantly, I felt myself dissolving. The scene faded away into black.

* * *

><p>"Wake up."<p>

I opened my eyes to Annabeth's scowl. Not the best alarm clock in the world.

Sitting up, I stretched and scratched Pinkie behind the ears. "What's going on?"

"We're going. Grover found us a way west. That is, if you're insisting on tagging along." She glared at me for good measure as she walked over to wake up Percy.

I ignored her and turned to look at Grover, who was sitting on a tree stump with a pink rag on his lap. Then the rag moved.

"Uh…is that a poodle?" The pink rag growled at me. Pinkie growled back, and the rag shut up.

"Be nice, Gladiola," Grover chided, although he was cringing as he looked at me. Same old, same old.

I decided to show Annabeth that I wouldn't be difficult. "Hi Gladiola. What's up?"

The poodle barked. Grover nodded at it, and then turned to me. "Gladiola belongs to a rich family nearby, but he ran away. He says he'll let us turn him in for the reward money so that we can buy some Amtrak tickets."

I decided to accept this without question. Besides, Grover was half animal – I guess it made sense that he could speak to other animals. Still, it was the _bottom_ half…

"Okie-dokie. Let's go turn in a pink poodle."

And that was a sentence I'd never thought I'd have to say in my life.


	8. Chapter 8

**Bolt: What's this? An upload so soon? My goodness. **

**Chichi: We're bored with nothing to do, and the chapter was ready, so hey, why not?**

**Bolt: Thanks to those who reviewed and/or followed the story. It makes us happy :)**

**Chichi: We are not Rick Riordan. End of story.**

* * *

><p>The train ride was <em>boring<em>. I'd never been in a plane – there was never money to take one – but after that train ride I was glad. I spent almost the whole two days playing I-Spy with Percy; how lame is that? We were _that_ bored. Annabeth spent the time reading a book, while Grover muttered and twitched. He could be a professional at that. I suppose it was interesting when Annabeth told us about the Mist – it explained why my bow and arrows had gotten through security at the train station. It probably also explained why people never noticed Pinkie.

Speaking of which…what _was_ Pinkie? He couldn't be a monster, because he'd been with me and Percy our entire lives, and he'd never tried to hurt us. Instead, he protected both of us, especially me, as if his life depended on it. But almost everyone else treated him as if he wasn't there, so he obviously wasn't really a dog. He was obviously some sort of magical creature, but if he wasn't a monster, then what was he?

An announcement that we were pulling into St. Louis jolted me out of my muddled thoughts. Annabeth stood up immediately.

"Where are you going?" Percy asked.

"I want to do some sightseeing," Annabeth announced, leading the way out of the train.

"Oh yes," I muttered, "Because when you're on a desperate mission to save the world, the first thing you want to do is make like a tourist!" Quite predictably, Annabeth ignored me.

* * *

><p>We made our way to the Gateway Arch. Annabeth immediately started spewing out random facts about it, while Percy and I munched on blue jellybeans we'd bought, and Grover muttered and twitched. I wasn't really paying attention, so I didn't even notice that we'd gotten into an elevator until the doors opened and we walked out. And I still didn't notice where we were, until I glanced up and saw the river more than seven hundred feet below me.<p>

"Oh no," I muttered as a wave of vertigo immediately hit. I staggered back, away from the window. "Oh no, oh no, oh no…"

"Quinn?" Percy glanced at me, concerned. "Are you…oh, right. Heights."

I nodded weakly, staring at the ceiling so that I couldn't see the windows. "I'm okay. I just need to fool myself into thinking we're on the ground…"

Of course, Annabeth chose that moment to say, "I would have made the floor see-through, actually…"

"Oh, can we please not talk about see-through floors?" I moaned. Without waiting for an answer, I turned and sat down next to the wall, as far away from the windows as possible, and closed my eyes. Pinkie curled up next to me; for some reason, he seemed really on edge too. He kept on looking at this fat lady's Chihuahua and growling.

"Quinn." Percy shook my shoulder gently. "Come on, the observation deck's about to close. Annabeth and Grover have already gone down." I opened my eyes and glanced around quickly; it was just us, the guard, a family of three and the fat lady with her Chihuahua, who was standing uncomfortably close to us. The Chihuahua growled at us and jumped to the ground.

"Not now, son," the lady scolded. The Chihuahua snarled again, its beady eyes fixed on me and my cousin, and she sighed. "Well then, alright. If you insist."

Percy glanced back at the lady, and then looked at me, his eyes a little fearful. "Is she talking to the Chihuahua?"

"Chimera, dear," the lady corrected, a nasty smile spreading across her face. "Not a Chihuahua. It's an easy mistake to make." She was rolling up the sleeves of her denim shirt, and I realized that her skin was green and scaly.

The Chihuahua kept barking, but its bark was getting louder, and the Chihuahua was getting bigger, and somehow started looking less like a Chihuahua and more like a…well, there really is no good word to describe it. The best would probably be _ugly_. Or _terrifying_.

The Chimera roared, baring long, pointed fangs at us. The little boy started screaming, while the guard just stared, openmouthed.

"Consider yourself lucky, Jacksons!" the fat lady was laughing. "Rarely does Lord Zeus let me test demigods with one of my brood! For I am Echidna, the mother of all monsters!"

I recalled the name from Mr. Bruner/Chiron's Latin class, and knew we were in trouble. Mr. ADHD on my right, however, said, "Isn't that a kind of anteater?"

Echidna snarled. I had a feeling this _wasn't _a question she liked being asked. "I hate Australia! Naming that ridiculous-looking animal after me! For that, Percy Jackson, my son will devour you!" The chimera barked, and then lunged at us.

Percy and I dove opposite ways. I was still a little dizzy from the vertigo, but something about seeing a giant lion-goat-snake combo trying to kill you makes you regain your balance pretty fast. Grabbing my bow off my back, I strung an arrow and shot it into the chimera's flank.

Roaring in pain, the creature turned toward me. Before it could do anything, however, Percy yelled, "Hey, Chihuahua!" The Chimera turned toward him and let out a jet of flames from its ugly maw, straight toward my cousin. He ducked out of the way and swung his sword. For one second, I thought the Chimera was puppy chow, but Riptide bounced off the giant rhinestone collar, out of Percy's grip, and down through the hole in the wall. As Percy stumbled back, the Chimera's snaky tail swung around and sank its fangs into his leg. Letting out a yell of pain, Percy fell to his knees.

"Percy!" I yelled, releasing another arrow. This one buried itself in the mane of the lion's head. Howling, the chimera turned toward me and swiped a massive paw. I ducked, but apparently not quick enough; the paw caught my wrist, snapping it back. With a _clack-clack_ noise, my bow skittered across the floor, coming to rest at the other end of the observation deck. I moved to run after it, but the snake tail swung back around and hissed at me, blocking my way. I froze.

I could see Percy. He was standing by the edge of the hole, gasping for breath. Blood trickled from his bitten leg.

The Chimra growled. It wasn't in any hurry to finish us off now that we were both weaponless. Echidna laughed. "Go ahead, Percy Jackson," she cackled. "If you are truly a son of Poseidon, you would not fear the water."

"Don't, Percy!" I yelled. The snake hissed at me again, and I fell silent.

"It is alright," Echidna smiled condescendingly. "You two do not have faith in the gods. My son will kill you right now." The chimera opened its mouth, ready to breathe flames again.

Percy glanced behind him, down toward the Mississippi several hundred feet below. I saw him close his eyes and whisper something, and then turn and jump as the chimera blew flames behind him.

"No!" I screamed. Anger surged through me, and before I even realized what I was doing, I pulled two arrows from my quiver and stabbed the snake in the eyes.

The chimera roared in pain as its tail began to thrash back and forth. It turned to face me, opening its mouth, and I knew it was about to breathe flames again. Before it could do anything, however, Pinkie barked and barreled between me and the monster.

_No! You dumb dog! You'll get killed!_ "Pinkie!" I hissed. "Get away!" He ignored me and continued to bark at the chimera, the hair on his back standing up on end. I expected the chimera to completely ignore him, and toast us both. Instead, it paused. Laying its ears flat against its head, it snarled at Pinkie, but there was a different tone, almost as if it was wary. My dog was still barking. But his bark was getting deeper, and his fur was darkening as his back rose up to brush against the ceiling…

I stared, openmouthed, at the hellhound that now stood between me and the chimera. It was at least three times as big as the one that had attacked Percy. It barked, revealing teeth the size of my leg, and then pounced on the Chimera, sinking its fangs into the hairy throat.

The lion-creature whimpered, struggling, and its snake tail tried to bite the hellhound. But it was blind, and was only able to snap vaguely around in the air as the movements slowly became weaker, until finally, it lay still. The hellhound released it, and the chimera melted away into dust.

"Curse you, Quinn Jackson!" Echidna bared her pointed teeth at me for a moment, and then vanished.

The hellhound turned back around. For a second, I thought it was going to pounce on me. Then it barked, its tongue lolling out of its mouth, the five-foot long tail wagging back and forth.

I struggled to make my voice work. "Pinkie?"

He barked again, and started to shrink, until it was just my goofy German Shepard in front of me once more. He walked right up and nudged my hand, obviously looking for me to pat him on the head. _Good boy, you defeated the monster_.

Ignoring the gaping family and security guard, I took a deep breath as I walked over and picked up my bow, my mind running in circles. Pinkie had defeated a monster. But more importantly, he _was_ a monster. This was…worrying…

Just then, paramedics burst through the door.

* * *

><p>"I said I'm <em>fine<em>!"

"Now, now, honey," the paramedic soothed, giving me what I'm sure she thought was a reassuring smile as she steered me out of the elevator. "Don't you worry. We're just going to take you to the hospital, get you checked over…"

"I'm fine!" She ignored me, pushing me down onto a stretcher. I tried to get up, but she strapped my arms and legs down before I could even blink.

"Now you just wait here, sweetie," she smiled again. "I'll be right back." I mouthed the words _fuck you_ at her back as she walked away. I couldn't be shipped off to a hospital! I needed to finish my quest! I needed to find Annabeth and Grover, and tell them about Percy…

"Quinn!" I turned my head, and froze.

"Percy?" I blurted out. "What…how…"

"I'm okay," he whispered, glancing around to make sure that no one was watching us. "I'll explain in a minute; let's get you out of this stretcher."

"Oh, let's just leave her there," Annabeth muttered from behind him. Grover was standing next to her, glancing around nervously.

"Haha," I snarled as Percy unstrapped me, and I stood up. I was _not _in the mood for dealing with Annabeth's mysterious hatred of me. "Why don't we send _you_ to the hospital? Maybe they can try and deflate that big head of yours a bit."

"Enough," Percy muttered, glancing around, as Annabeth opened her mouth to retaliate. "Let's get out of here, Quinn. According to a newscaster, we're wanted by the law."

"Really?" I asked. "Cool. I guess I can check that off my bucket list." Annabeth rolled her eyes as the four of us started running back to the train station.

"So how did you survive?" I asked Percy once we'd boarded our train. For the next five minutes, I listened openmouthed to how he'd found out he could breathe underwater, talked to some mysterious lady, and been summoned to Santa Monica by his father.

"Wow," I said when he'd finished. "How come all the exciting stuff happens to you?"

"Well you're the one who was left with the chimera," Annabeth pointed out. "How did you get away?"

I caught my breath as my friends' eyes all turned to me. At my feet, Pinkie stopped panting and seemed to listen closely. I wondered what he was thinking.

"I didn't have to fight," I replied, keeping my voice steady. "Once Percy jumped, Echidna and the Chimera just vanished. I think they were really there to test us, not kill us."

To my relief, they all nodded as if this made perfect sense. Like I said before, I'm a good liar.

"Well," Percy sighed, bowing his head, "I'll add that to the list of tests I've failed."


	9. Chapter 9

**Bolt: We're BAAAACK!**

**ChiChi: Sorry for the long wait. SOMEONE who must not be named got mad at us (well, at Bolt, and I'm in her head), and stole all Bolt's stories off her computer. Bolt had a heart attack, and only just managed to get her stories back. **

**Bolt: As such, we will be giving you a...LONG CHAPPIE and a DOUBLE UPDATE! Yay! Please don't hate us for not updating for a while - hopefully now we'll be able to update more frequently!**

**ChiChi: by the way, we're not Rick Riordan. And now, back to the story!**

* * *

><p>As we left the train station, I got my first good look at Denver, Colorado. It didn't look different from many other places I've been, to be honest.<p>

"Come on," Annabeth said, leading us all towards a carwash across the street. "I want to talk to Chiron."

"But I thought cell phones were traceable?" Percy asked.

"I'm not going to use a cellphone," she replied. Percy glanced at me, obviously confused, and I shrugged, as Annabeth continued. "I'm going to IM him."

"Instant messaging?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not _instant_ messaging," she replied, pushing some quarters into the coin slot. "_Iris_ messaging."

I frowned. "You mean like the rainbow goddess?"

"She carries messages for the gods. Sometimes, if she's feeling nice, she'll do it for half-bloods too." Grover lifted up the spray nozzle and sent a fine mist into the air. Within a few moments, a rainbow had appeared.

"Dramacha please," Annabeth said, holding out her hand to Percy. He gave her the golden coin, and she tossed it into the spray, saying, "O goddess, accept my offering." The dramacha disappeared.

"Half Blood Hill," Annabeth said. For a second, nothing happened. Then, suddenly, I was staring at the hill next to the Big House, where a solitary figure in an orange T-shirt stood…

"Luke!" I called. He turned to face us, his scarred face breaking into a smile.

"Quinn! Percy! Annabeth!"

"Luke!" I snickered at the sight of Annabeth madly trying to comb her dirty hair with her fingers. "I…we- we thought…Chiron…"

"He's down at the cabins," Luke said, his smile fading. "Things aren't going so well here. Where's Grover?"

"Here," Grover said, holding out the nozzle and stepping into Luke's line of sight. "What's not going well?" As Luke opened his mouth to answer, a Lincoln pulled up next to us, blasting music.

"Chiron had to…what's that noise?" Luke yelled over the thudding bass.

"I'll take care of it!" Annabeth yelled, immediately ducking over to where Luke couldn't see her. "Come on, Grover." She pulled him away and went to go argue with the Lincoln owner.

"Chiron had to break up a fight!" Luke yelled to me and Percy. "Things are getting tense – word leaked out about the Zeus/Poseidon standoff. We're not sure how. Probably the same scumbag that summoned the hellhound." I wondered if he noticed how I flinched at the last word.

"Things are shaping up like the Trojan War all over again," Luke continued. "Ares, Apollo and Aphrodite are siding with Poseidon; Athena's baking Zeus. But how's the quest going? Are you guys okay?"

"We're…alright," I replied, as the Lincoln's music died down; Annabeth must have won the argument. I didn't think she was coming back, though. Luke raised his eyebrow at my ambiguous answer, so Percy told him about the Chimera, and what the naiad had said, while I rocked back and forth on my heals, staring around anxiously. Pinkie nudged my hand with his nose, whining.

"It has to be Hades who took the bolt, Percy," Luke said as my cousin finished. "He was there at the winter solstice."

"But I thought gods couldn't directly usurp each other's power?" Percy asked.

"True," Luke said, looking troubled. "Still, it had to be him. He has the Helm of Darkness. There'd be no other way to get the bolt – you'd have to be invisible." Percy and I glanced at each other as Luke seemed to realize what he'd said. "Oh, I didn't mean Annabeth! She would never – I mean, we've been friends ever since she was real little."

The nozzle beeped, warning us that we were almost out of time.

"I think we've got to go, Luke," I said regretfully. It'd been nice to talk to someone besides Percy who actually treated me like a human being. Annabeth treated me like something disgusting and stupid, while Grover treated me like a disease.

"Alright…hey Percy, are you wearing the flying shoes?" he asked. "I'd really like to know if they've done some good."

"Oh! Oh, yeah," Percy replied, at the same time stepping on my foot pointedly with his not-flying shoes. "Yeah, they fit great…"

The nozzle shut off. As the spray dissipated, Luke said, "Well I'll tell Chiron you called. And listen! Tell Grover it'll be fine! No one will get turned into a pine tree if he just –" The rainbow disappeared, and Luke's image vanished as well.

I glanced at Percy questioningly. He replied, "Chiron said I shouldn't take to the air. It's Zeus's territory. I gave the shoes to Grover." The mention of Grover's name made me think of Luke's last sentence. No one would get turned into a pine tree…

Grover and Annabeth hurried up to us. "What did Luke say?"

"Not much," I lied, turning towards them. "Come on, let's go get something to eat."

* * *

><p>The waitress raised her eyebrow at us as we slid into a booth in a little diner. When she didn't say anything, I said, "We'd like to order, please."<p>

She frowned, not meeting my eyes. Typical. "You kids got money to pay for it?"

My stomach growled as my spirits fell. We were completely out of money, and hadn't eaten since the night before. Grover's lower lip was trembling; I was worrying that he would start chewing the silverware when a roar sounded from outside.

The doors burst open, revealing a huge man in a leather jacket with wraparound shades. The whole diner fell silent. Then, as one person, everyone stood up, their eyes fixed on the newcomer. He waved a hand, and everyone sat down and began talking again.

"You kids got money to pay for it?" the waitress asked me again, as if nothing had happened.

The huge man slid into our booth, scrunching Annabeth and Grover against the wall. "It's on me."

She stared at him, gaping. He raised an eyebrow. "You still here?" he snarled, and pointed a meaty finger at her. She spun around like a top and marched away.

I frowned at the guy, anger boiling up inside of me. What right did he have to treat people like that? He leaned towards Percy. "So. You're old Barnacle's kid?"

Percy scowled. "What's it to you?"

Annabeth drew in a breath. "Percy, this is…"

The giant man waved a hand again, and she fell silent. "It's alright, I don't mind a little cheek. S'long as he remembers who's boss. Know who I am, little cuz?"

I frowned. _Little__cuz?_

Percy reached the answer a second before me. "You're Ares. Clarisse's dad."

He grinned, lifting up his sunglasses to reveal empty eye sockets that contained little miniature nuclear explosions. "That's right, punk. I heard you broke her spear."

"She was asking for it."

"Probably. That's cool. I don't fight my kids' fights, you know what I'm saying?"

The waitress came up with a tray full of food. I immediately took a hamburger and placed it on the floor next to Pinkie, before I remembered that the waitress couldn't see him. Thankfully, she was distracted by Ares taking out a dramacha and placing it on the table.

She frowned. "That's not…"

He started cleaning his nails with a foot-long hunting knife. "Problem, sweetheart?" She gulped, took the dramacha, and left.

"You can't just do that," Percy said. "You can't threaten people with knives." I rolled my eyes, taking a bite of a chicken nugget. Of course he could use a weapon to get people to do what he wanted. The morality and legality of it was questionable, but of course he _could_.

Ares laughed. "Of course I can. I love this country. Best place since Sparta. You should carry a weapon, kid."

"Why are you even here?" I asked. "I mean, thanks for the food, but you don't seem like the kind of guy who'd just offer your assistance out of the goodness of your heart."

"Why not? I heard you four were in town and thought I'd help you out."

"We're doing fine on our own," Annabeth said haughtily. I turned to stare at her, eyebrows raised. Did she _really_ think Ares was going to buy that?

The war god smirked. "They must have brought you along for looks, princess, because you sure as Hades didn't get mommy's brains. No money plus no wheels equals no chance." He turned his attention back to Percy. "I've got a job I need doing. I was on a date with my girlfriend, and we were…interrupted. I left my shield. Get it back for me, and I'll help you four move along toward the Underworld."

"No way," Percy snapped.

He grinned. "Not so fast. I've got some information that might be of interest to you. Something about your mom."

"What about her?" Percy and I said at the same time. My mind was reeling. He knew where Aunt Sally was?

Ares smirked again. "That got your attention." He stood. "The place is called Waterland. Thrill Ride of Love." The next second, I was raising my head from the table, and Ares was gone.

I stared at the others, who were looking equally bewildered. "Well? Let's eat up, get out of here, and go get that shield." I was getting that information out of Ares if it was the last thing I did.

Percy, to my surprise, shook his head. "No way. That guy's bad news. Forget his help." I turned to him, mouth open, and he added in a lower voice, "Quinn, that bit about our mom was probably just a ploy."

I shut my mouth, thinking. Had Ares just been lying to us? Somehow, I didn't think so, but I wasn't sure how to convince Percy.

Luckily, I didn't have to. Annabeth leaned forward and said, "Percy, you really can't just ignore the gods. Especially if they seek you out. Besides, we need help."

I stared at her, wanting to say, _No,__really?_, but deciding that since she was taking my side for once, I'd keep my mouth shut.

Percy glanced around, and then sighed. "Alright. To Waterland we go."

As we stood up, I commented, "You know, we've been doing a lot more touristy stuff on this quest than I thought we would. First national monuments, then an amusement park…what's next, a casino?"

* * *

><p>I stared around the abandoned amusement park, frowning. This couldn't be right…this looked like the last place I'd ever want to go on a date. But the sign outside had definitely said Waterland.<p>

"This place's a dump," Percy said, echoing my thoughts. "What kind of girl would Ares be taking here? Echidna?"

I snickered, but Annabeth glanced around nervously. "Percy, Ares's girlfriend is Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Don't insult her. Trust me, it's not a good idea."

I frowned. "Aphrodite? I thought she was married to Hephaestus?"

Annabeth raised an eyebrow at me. "What's your point?"

"Oh," I nodded. "Right."

"She hates him," Annabeth continued. "He's always trying to catch her in the act with one of her…um…_friends._ He actually caught her and Ares together once. That's why they have to meet in out-of-the-way places now…like this."

We wandered around for a bit, and swiped some stuff from the gift shop. I had to admit, it felt good to be in clean clothes, even though I looked like a walking advertisement.

We finally found the Thrill Ride O' Love, a drained pool with a few loveseat-cars resting on the stone floor. Next to one of them lay a shield.

"No way," I whispered. Pinkie trotted up to the edge of the pool and sniffed around. I wondered if he was searching for monsters. If so, he didn't seem to find any.

"Looks like that's the shield," Percy said. "I guess I'll go get it. You and Grover keep watch, just in case. Come on, Annabeth."

"What?" The blonde girl stared at my cousin as if he'd grown an extra head. "No way!"

"Why?"

"I'm not going with you into the…_Thrill__Ride__of__Love_!" Percy rolled his eyes and started to make his way down into the pool. Annabeth hesitated – I smirked and made a 'go ahead' motion. After a brief second, she scowled and followed Percy.

Pulling my bow from my back, I strung an arrow and turned to face the entrance, my back to the pool. Therefore, I didn't see what was going on until I heard Annabeth scream.

Spinning around, my jaw fell open as I took in the golden net, camera-headed cupids, and the hundreds of mechanical spiders that were surrounding Percy and Annabeth. _Hephaestus!_ I realized. _He__must__have__set__this__trap__for__Ares__and__Aphrodite!_

A magnified voice boomed, "We are live to Olympus in thirty…twenty-nine…twenty-eight…"

"Spiders!" Annabeth shrieked. "Spi- Argh!" I'd never imagined that she could lose control like that. Her hair was falling into her face, and her eyes were wide with undisguised terror. She hadn't even bothered taking out her knife to defend herself.

"Twenty…nineteen…"

"_Maia_!" Grover yelled, flying up to the control room. Meanwhile, I started shooting my arrows at the nearest cupids. The good news – if I hit them in the right spot, the camera exploded. The bad news – they didn't let go of the net.

"Eleven…ten…"

Grover was desperately hitting buttons in the control room. "It's no good!" he yelled. "I don't have any control!"

"Hold on!" I heard Percy yell to Annabeth. As the voice began reaching the final numbers of the countdown, he pulled her into the car, strapped the shield onto his arm, and closed his eyes. I was about to yell that this was no time for a nap when the ground started to shake. I raised my bow, searching for the cause of the disturbance, just as the pipes exploded.

"Whoa!" I yelled. Percy must have somehow managed to restart the water system. The mechanical spiders apparently short circuited – sparks came flying out of some of them. Percy didn't seem to have any control over what he'd done, however. The car shot down the tunnel, just as the voice yelled, "ACTION!" Little red lights appeared on the cameras I hadn't exploded.

For a second, I thought we were in the clear. They'd go through the Tunnel of Love together – and I was _never_ going to let them forget that – and get out at the end of the ride. Then I saw that the gates at the end of the tunnel were shut. Their car would crash right into them.

"Crap!" Turning around, I ran as fast as I could towards the gates. Reaching out, I grabbed onto the chain-link wiring and, placing the tips of my army boots in the gaps, started to make my way toward the center. Water rushed beneath my feet. A car slammed into the gate, almost causing me to fall into the pool. Gritting my teeth, I redoubled my grip and kept moving. From the pavement, Pinkie barked nervously, apparently antsy that he couldn't follow me. _Don__'__t__turn__into__a__hellhound__here,_ I thought desperately. I could hear Percy and Annabeth's screams growing louder as I reached the middle.

The gates were held together by a thick padlock. Reaching out with my left hand, I yanked on it, rattling the metal, but it refused to budge. "C'mon!" I muttered, trying to twist it off. No dice.

Another car slammed into the gates. This time, I managed to hold on, but I could hear Percy and Annabeth hurtling towards me now. Their car would probably be the next one. Out of sheer exasperation, I struck the padlock with my open palm. "Come _on!_"

It burst into flames. Heat slapped at my face as the orange light danced manically mere inches away from my hand. I stared at it for a second, mouth open, as the padlock rapidly melted away. My mind reeled…did _I_ do that? _How_ did I do that? I didn't have time to find out. I could see their car careening towards me…I lifted the latch of the gate just as they hit. The gate I was holding onto swung out with a bang, sending me flying back. I landed on the pavement with a loud _thud_, skidding backwards on my elbows.

Meanwhile, Percy and Annabeth had apparently decided to jump from the car. Luckily Grover was there to catch them; otherwise they would have made nice pancakes on the asphalt.

As I ran over to join them, Pinkie at my heels, Percy raised a hand towards the cupids, which were still filming. "Show's over! Thank you! Good night!" As if on a signal, all the red lights went out.

Percy glanced around at us. "Everyone okay?"

"Fine," I replied, examining my elbows. "Just a bit of road rash."

He nodded, and swung the shield onto his back. "Come on. I want to talk to Ares."

* * *

><p>The war god was leaning against his motorcycle in the diner parking lot, a smirk on his lips. I gritted my teeth at the sight.<p>

"You knew it was a trap," Percy growled angrily.

The war god chuckled. "You four looked good on TV." Sudden fear swept through me. Had he seen the flame I'd somehow managed to conjure? For some inexplicable reason, I didn't want anyone to know about it. As the dark sunglasses glinted at me, I knew that he _had_ seen what I'd done. And he probably knew what it meant.

My cousin threw the shield at him. "You're a jerk."

"I'm flattered," Ares replied. "Now I'll hold up my end of the deal." He threw a blue backpack at Percy. "There. Some supplies. And as for your ride…"

He pointed a finger at a nearby van. The back doors flew open.

"Hope you don't mind stowaway service." With that, he swung a leg onto his motorcycle.

"Hang on!" I snapped. "You promised information about Aunt Sally as well!"

"You sure you want it?" the war god asked me, his sunglasses gleaming.

"Yes!" Percy and I yelled.

"Alright." He kick-started the engine. "She's not dead."

"I knew it!" I hissed, triumph shooting through me. I knew she was still alive…

"Where is she?" Percy asked, his voice shaking slightly with suppressed emotion.

"Hades took her. She's being held prisoner in the Underworld."

"Why would he do that?"

"Leverage. He thinks that he can use her to get you two," he nodded towards me and my cousin, "to do what he wants. But it looks as if your ride's leaving soon. So if I were you, I'd get moving." With that, he drove away, taking his malevolent aura with him.

"Come on." I led the way into the van, and stopped dead at the sight. A lion, a zebra, and an antelope, all crammed into tiny cages that were littered with feces and urine. The smell was overpowering.

"Oh…oh my gods," Annabeth whispered.

"This is not humane transport!" Grover hissed. I stared at him; I'd never seen him like this before. His whole body was quivering with anger, and he scuffed the ground with his fake foot like a bull preparing to charge.

"We don't have time!" Percy whispered, although he too sounded sickened. "Just get in!"

We did as he said, just as the van started to move.

"So what _did_ Luke say?" Annabeth asked as we made ourselves as comfortable as possible under the sad gazes of the animals. Percy told them about how things were getting bad at camp, but as he got to the end of our conversation, he hesitated.

I knew what was bothering him, and took the initiative to speak up myself. "And he said to tell Grover that no one would get turned into a pine tree this time."

The silence was so thick you could have sliced through it with a sword.

Percy looked at Grover, who had taken a sudden interest in his hooves. "You were the satyr who was supposed to guide Thalia to Half-Blood Hill, weren't you?" Grover nodded sadly.

"And the other two demigods…that was you and Luke, wasn't it?" he continued, turning towards Annabeth.

She sighed. "A seven year old wouldn't have gotten far alone. Athena led me to Thalia and Luke. They were…amazing, superb monster fighters. Then Grover found us and led us to camp."

Grover sniffled. "I failed. She should have made it."

"But you saved me and Luke," Annabeth argued with him. "We would have died without you. It was Thalia's decision to stay behind; no one could have stopped her."

Grover still looked miserable. "Just my luck," he muttered. "I'm the lamest satyr in the world, and I find the two most powerful demigods of the century – Thalia and Percy."

"You're not the lamest satyr in the word," Percy replied, shaking his head. "You've got the biggest heart of any satyr I know."

"You're the best I've ever met," I offered. Grover smiled weakly.

Sighing, I lay down and closed my eyes...

* * *

><p>I was drifting in a sea of whiteness. It felt soft, and comfortable…<p>

Voices floated around. I didn't pay them much attention, until I heard my name.

"Why don't you like Quinn?"

Percy? What was he doing there? Who was he talking to?

"I- I don't know what you mean, Percy."

Grover? Why were those guys in my whiteness? I ought to kick them out…but first, I'd just hear what they were saying about me…

"Come on, Grover. It's obvious. Every time she's anywhere near you, you start acting all antsy, like you think she's going to bite your head off or something."

"H-haha, that's funny…"

"Grover. At least admit that I'm right."

"I- okay, you're right."

"Why? I mean, I get why Annabeth doesn't like her…" _Really?_I thought. _Because__I__don__'__t._

"It's totally stupid, but I get it. But why don't you like her?" Percy continued. "She's my cousin, and she's…well, she's not exactly a good person, she's too scary for that, but she's good enough. You know that; you were at Yancey with us. She's never been anything but nice to you. So why do you act like that around her?"

For a moment, there was silence. Then Grover sighed. "Don't get mad at me," he warned. "I'm part animal, Percy. I trust my nose almost more than I trust my eyes. And Quinn…she looks like a demigod, and she acts like a demigod. Just like that dog of hers looks like a German Shepard and acts like a German Shepard. But they both smell like monsters."

Silence. Realizing that the conversation was over, I sank into deeper sleep, while what I'd heard joined with the other suspicions in the back of my mind that were hardening into a very disturbing realization…


	10. Chapter 10

**Bolt: Um, Chichi, who's that?**

**ChiChi: You mean the creapy person standing in the corner wearing a trench coat, or CPSITCWAT for short? I don't know, I was going to ask you. Dude, who are you?**

**CPSITCWAT: I am your worst nightmare *Throws off trench coat* A CHAPTER THAT YOU WORKED VERY HARD ON THAT DIDN"T GET ANY REVIEWS!**

**Bolt: AAAH! Somebody make this freak go away and review please!**

* * *

><p>"Quinn." A hand was urgently shaking me awake. "Wake up, Quinn."<p>

I opened my eyes to see Percy above me. "They're coming to check on the animals," he hissed. "We need to hide!"

The back door swung open. Annabeth, of course, just put on her Yankees hat and vanished. Percy, Grover and I dove behind cargo. Pinkie remained sitting in the open, but he'd be okay; no one ever saw him.

I gritted my teeth as the van driver rattled the bars of the lion's cage. How could people be so cruel? The poor moth-eaten creature roared, but the man just laughed.

"You like magic shows, Stripes?" he smirked at the zebra. "You'll love this one. They're gonna saw you in half!" The zebra trembled.

Someone knocked on the side of the van. The man cursed and yelled out, "Whaddya want?"

Another voice, from the outside, called back, "What? I didn't do nothin'."

The banging came again. _Annabeth_, I thought, as the van driver cursed again and stomped out.

The blonde girl reappeared as Percy, Grover and I all ducked out of our hiding places. "We can't let them do this."

"What can we do?" I asked.

"This." Percy lifted Riptide and slashed open the zebra's cage. The creature leaped free – Grover lifted his hands and said something to it in Animal before it jumped out of the van, bowling over the startled driver. The lion and the antelope received the same treatment.

"Time to go!" I yelled, jumping out the back, the others right behind me. As we started running, I got a glimpse of bright lights, neon signs, and a strip mall, and laughed.

"What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!" I yelled, watching the van drivers trying to catch the escaped animals. Pinkie barked beside me, his tongue lolling out of his mouth as he ran.

"We need a place to hide," Percy called. "In here!"

I paused and stared up at the neon flower. For some reason, I didn't want to stop at this place… "Why here?"

"Well," Annabeth reminded me, "you did ask for a casino."

"Touché," I muttered as we ducked into the hotel.

Worst decision ever.

* * *

><p>I stared at the screen, a happy little half-smile on my lips. This was the best game <em>ever<em>.

Pinkie nudged my hand and whined. He'd been doing that a lot lately, and it was really starting to bug me.

"Not now, dumb dog," I muttered. "I'm busy." Whimpering, he lay down and buried his nose into his paws.

"Hey Quinn." I glanced up to see Percy hurrying towards me, and frowned. Why did he look so agitated? "How long have we been here?"

"Um…" I racked my brains and then turned my attention back to the screen. "A couple hours, maybe?"

"Don't you think we should get going?"

"What? Are you kidding? I'm having a great time." Why on earth would he want to leave?

"Shouldn't we be continuing with our quest?"

"What quest?"

"The quest to get back the lightning bolt!" Lowering his voice slightly, he added, "The quest to save Mom."

I laughed. What was he talking about? "Percy, why would we have to save Aunt Sally? She's right here! Look!" I pointed to the screen, where a little brown-haired figure was moving. "There she is. And here you are." I moved my finger towards a black-haired boy on the screen. "And there's no Gabe, and you live with your dad in a _real__house_, with a yard and everything. And my family is right next door, see! There's me, my dad, my mom, and Pinkie!"

"Quinn…" Percy whispered. His voice was sad, but I took no notice.

"And we go to school, Percy! We go to regular school, and we've never been kicked out, and there's no weird things happening, because there's no monsters, and our dads are regular human beings, and we're regular human beings too, and everything's _normal_." I smiled up at my cousin. "It's wonderful."

"Quinn!" He pulled me up out of my seat roughly, and I was shocked to see tears in his eyes. "That's not real life, Quinn! Yes, it sounds wonderful, but it's _not__real_. We can't live in there! We can't live in _here_! We have to get out!"

I stared at him vacantly. Why couldn't we live here? I was having fun. "But I'm having fun," I told him.

He gritted his teeth and placed a hand on each of my shoulders, staring me in the eyes, something that he never did. No one did, usually.

"Quinn. We need to rescue Aunt Sally."

Rescue…

"She's being held captive by Hades in the Underworld."

Captive…Hades…

Everything came back in that instant like a slap to the face. "Oh my gods," I whispered, clapping my hands to my mouth. "Percy…we've got to get out of here."

He nodded. "I've already got Annabeth. She went to find Grover. Come on."

We found Annabeth arguing with Grover, who was playing a game called Polluter Shooter. Tree-hugger.

"Grover, you have to listen to me!"

"Die, litterbug!"

"Screw this," I muttered, pulling Grover's rasta cap over his eyes so that he couldn't see.

"Hey!" he wailed. "You made me mess up."

"That's the point," I replied, grabbing one of his arms and starting to drag him away from the game. Percy took his other arm as we made our way to the door, Pinkie trotting beside us. As we walked away, though, somehow everything started seeming more inviting; the games, the food, the nice, soft beds…

And then we were out, blinking in the noon sunlight, and that was wrong. "Um, guys?" I asked, rubbing my eyes. "Wasn't it _afternoon_ when we went in? How long were we there?"

"Five days," Percy whispered.

"WHAT?" the three of us yelled. He was staring at a newspaper box nearby. The date on the newspaper said June 20th.

"We have one day left!" I said. "We've got to get to California pronto."

For a moment, no one spoke. Then Annabeth nodded. "Don't worry. Athena always has a plan."

"Oh yes," I muttered as she led the way to a nearby taxi. "Because all of our other plans have worked out _so_well on this quest…"

Predictably, she ignored me.

* * *

><p>I will never, ever tell her this, but Annabeth's idea for getting us to California was genius. I've never seen anyone drive faster than that taxi man. Within three hours, we were standing on Santa Monica beach.<p>

"Now what?" I asked, staring out at the waves. Annabeth opened her mouth to answer, but before she could, Percy strode forward into the water.

"Percy!" I called after him. He ignored me, and just kept walking in, until the surf closed over his head.

"He'll be fine," Annabeth told me. "It's his domain out there."

I frowned at the ocean, thinking about that. His _domain_. It was hard to think of my cousin, my goofy, ADHD cousin, having a _domain_. It made him sound like a king or something. But I supposed that all demigods had a domain, even if it wasn't a physical one, like the ocean. War would probably be Clarisse's domain, for instance. _What__'__s__my__domain?_ I wondered. Well, if my suspicions were right…

I bit my lip nervously, watching the sun setting over the waves. Different things on this quest had been adding up in my head, and I was becoming more and more certain with every strange thing that happened. Every weird incident seemed to be offering me up clues, whispering the answer in my ear. If I was right…

I didn't want to think about it.

Suddenly, Percy reemerged from the water, strolling onto the beach like it was no big deal. _What,__you__'__ve__never__seen__a__kid__just__randomly__walk__out__of__the__ocean__before?_I ran towards him, thankful for the distraction.

"Hey, you!" I grinned, skidding to a halt in the sand in front of him. "You're not even wet, you know."

"I noticed," he replied, smiling. "Come on, let's go find the Underworld."


	11. Chapter 11

**Bolt: Hello my friends! We have returned!**

**ChiChi: Apologies for the long wait. To make up for it, we have a LONG and DRAMATIC chapter!**

**Bolt: HeeHee! Lots of stuff happens in this chapter, so please review and tell us what you think!**

**ChiChi: We are not Rick Riordan. If you still think we are, then you missed the first ten disclaimers.**

* * *

><p>"This is hopeless!" Annabeth threw her hands up in apparent frustration. "We've been wandering for hours now – it'll be the summer solstice before we even find the entrance to the Underworld, never mind get in and out <em>and<em> back to New York!"

"We just need to keep looking," Percy replied, sounding exhausted. I sighed, staring down at my boots. I was getting tired of this game. Beside me, Pinkie nudged my hand.

I glanced down at him; he was looking at me with more intelligence than any normal dog would have in his eyes. I knew exactly what he wanted me to do.

Kneeling down next to him, I kept my eyes on my friends in front of me, and whispered in his ear. "Find the entrance to the Underworld, Pinkie. I know you can."

He peered up at me, and then turned and started to follow an invisible path.

I stood. "This way, guys," I called, not even checking behind me to see if they were following. I kept my hands in my pockets and my eyes on my dog as I walked. Within twenty minutes, we were standing in front of a building that said DOA Recording Studios.

"Well," I sighed, shrugging. "Here we are." I finally turned to face the others; they were staring at me in shock.

"Quinn," Percy said slowly. "How did you do that?"

I turned away, hunching my shoulders, not wanting to see the expression in his eyes. "Let's just go. We've got a plan, right?"

"Right," Annabeth murmured, her voice sounding small. "A plan." I led the way in, Pinkie trotting beside me.

As we entered, I dropped back and let Percy take the lead. As he led us towards the man standing at the podium, I felt some inexplicable feeling rising within me. It was almost like anger, except I wasn't sure who I was angry at. I felt…strong, and powerful. I was here, and I was going to get some _answers_.

"Your name is _Chiron_?" Percy, dyslexic as always, gasped. The man glanced up and leaned forward.

"Look here, kid." He pointed at his nametag. "That says _Charon_. Say it with me. _Charon_."

"Charon," Percy repeated.

"Good. Now, _Mr. Charon._"

"Mr. Charon."

"That's better," the man leaned back. "I'd hate to be confused with that old horse-man. Now, how can I help you four?"

"We would like to go to the Underworld."

Charon raised his eyebrows. "Well, that's refreshing."

"Huh?" Percy frowned, obviously confused.

"Usually it's, _Oh no, I can't be dead, Mr. Charon_, and _There must be some mistake, Mr. Charon_. How'd you four die?" he asked suddenly. I wanted to moan out loud – we needed to get _going_!

Percy looked to Grover for help. "Oh, uh, we drowned," the satyr said. "In a bathtub." I wanted to face-palm at that.

Charon seemed to buy it, however. "Big bathtub," he mused. "Well, you probably can't pay. With adults, I can usually charge it to your credit cards, but alas, you children never die prepared. So if you'd like to take a seat…" he gestured towards some waiting chairs.

"Oh, but we can pay," Percy said, pulling a drachma out of his backpack.

And that's where it went wrong.

Charon stiffened, his fingers inches from the golden coin, and leaned forward again. "Say, you mispronounced my name, didn't you? You dyslexic, kid?"

"No," Percy replied quickly. Too quickly. "I'm dead."

Charon leaned close and breathed in deeply, his nostrils flaring. Then he leaned back, scowling. "Ah. You're not dead. You're demigods."

"We want to go to the Underworld," Percy repeated.

"Sorry kid," Charon smirked. "No can do."

"I don't think you heard him," I interrupted, pushing my way forward. Charon glanced down at me for the first time. I saw his eyebrows shoot up as I stared him straight in the eyes – well, straight in the sunglasses. "We want to go to the Underworld."

For a moment, he didn't move. Then he chuckled drily and beckoned us towards the elevator. "Guess I don't really have a choice, do I?"

"No," I replied stonily. "You don't."

We followed Charon over to the elevator. I could tell that my friends were itching to ask what I'd done, but didn't want to speak in front of Charon. I was grateful for that – I really didn't want to answer their questions.

The elevator moved down, then forward. I stared at my boots as we crossed the River Styx. As the boat hit the other side, we clambered off.

"I'd wish you luck," Charon said as he pushed off, "but there isn't any down here." We watched as he faded into darkness.

"Quinn-" Percy began, but I interrupted.

"Look, don't ask, okay? Let's just keep going. Stick to the plan." As I spoke, I glanced at Annabeth. Her grey eyes were narrowed at me – I could almost see the cogs turning in her brain as she started fitting together all the pieces to the puzzle, the puzzle that had already come together in my mind. Now I just had to know if I was right or not…

We made our way up the path, following the spirits that trailed silently over the dark ground. I watched them as they walked past, fixing my gaze on each one in turn: an elderly lady, shuffling along; an old couple, hand in hand; a boy my age, his gaze fixed on the ground; a man who was trembling with fear and muttering about his sins…

Percy stopped. "Well this is…not what I expected."

I had to admit, it wasn't what I was expecting either. A big sign announced that we were now entering Erebus, while the line we were in headed towards the EZ-DEATH! aisle. Above that isle, two giant paws planted firmly on either side, was…

"Cerberus," Annabeth whispered. "_Dis Imortilles_, he's huge…"

"He's a Rottweiler," Percy said, looking bemused. I rolled my eyes at his ADHD-ness.

As we steadily drew nearer, Cerberus's eyes – all six of them – fixed themselves on us, and he growled. "Can you understand him?" Percy whispered to Grover.

"Uh-huh."

"What's he saying?"

"I don't think humans have a four-letter word that translates, really."

We were almost there now. There were less than four yards between us and the dog.

"Why is he getting clearer?" Percy asked. I frowned. Clearer?

"I think…" Annabeth swallowed and moistened her lips. "I think it's because we're getting closer to being dead." I scowled, ducking my head so that the others couldn't see my face. Cerberus looked perfectly clear to me. Of course he did.

Just then, Pinkie let out a bark and ran forward. "Pinkie!" Percy called.

"It's okay," I sighed, looking up. "He'll be fine."

Pinkie ran straight up to Cerberus and barked, wagging his tail. _Don't turn into a hellhound, please_, I thought desperately. Luckily, he didn't. Glancing down, Cerberus's middle head barked, while the head on the right bent down and sniffed Pinkie's butt.

I laughed, strolling up to the dogs, while beckoning to my friends with one hand. "That's great, Cerberus, but I'm afraid Pinkie can't reach your butt to return the favor." The Rottie barked, tongue lolling out of his mouths as he panted happily.

"Good boy." I reached up and scratched his furry leg, and then glanced back at the others. Percy and Grover were staring at me with open mouths. Annabeth, however, was staring at me with obvious awe and fear in her eyes. I knew that she'd finally reached the same conclusion I had.

Shooting her a quick _say-anything-and-you-die_ look, (wow, irony), I told them, "Go on. Through the EZ-Death lane." As they started forward, Cerberus growled.

"Hey!" I snapped. "Uh-uh, Cerberus. Those are my friends. You be nice to them, okay?" He whined uncomfortably, but made no other argument as they walked quickly between his legs.

"Good boy," I told him. Whistling for Pinkie to follow, I made my way through the EZ-Death lane and joined my friends at Cerberus's backside. "Let's go."

Percy opened his mouth, to ask a question, I knew, but Annabeth for once decided to help me out. "She's right. We need to focus on what we came here for. Let's get to the palace, get the master bolt and your mom, and get out of here."

Of course, this speech would have been more impressive if she hadn't turned and walked right through the metal detectors.

Alarm bells went off. Security ghouls started to race towards us, yelling, "Hey, you need a permit for those weapons!"

"We don't exactly have time to fill out paperwork," Percy muttered. We turned and ran.

"You know, Annabeth," I told her as we weaved through dead spirits, "For a daughter of Athena, you sure can be a dumbass sometimes."

Yes, I made a Very Potter Musical reference while running for my life. I can now check that off my bucket list.

* * *

><p>We were making our way towards Hades's palace when Grover's shoes decided to take a detour.<p>

"_Bla-ha-ha_!" he bleated, floating up into the air.

"Grover, quit goofing around," Annabeth told him.

"I'm not…_bla-ha-ha_!" he started moving forward jerkily, his shoes pulling him.

"Grover, what are you doing?" I frowned. Suddenly, he took off, his flying shoes dragging him through the dead spirits.

"Help!" he yelled. "I can't control them!"

"Grover!" I yelled. We ran after him, weaving through the dead, trying to keep him in sight. It seemed like they were dragging him straight towards Hades's palace – but no, Grover veered off to the side at the last minute, shooting down a tunnel I might not have noticed otherwise. The shoes were dragging him towards a deep crack in the ground…

I halted. This was the pit I'd seen in my dream! The one that had offered me Aunt Sally…

Percy had frozen too. "This is the pit! The one I saw in my dream!" I glanced at him swiftly. He'd dreamed about this pit too?

"Hurry!" Annabeth gasped, yanking us forward. Grover was almost at the edge. Luckily, he hit a big rock, and one of the shoes slipped off. This slowed him down enough that we were able to reach him. Annabeth and I grabbed his arms to keep him from sliding any further, while Percy pulled off the other shoe. It flapped around for a moment, kicking us on the head a couple times, and then dove into the pit.

"What is this place?" I whispered. It felt like some sort of evil was leaking out from the pit, washing over us.

"I…I think it's Tartarus," Annabeth whispered. "Reserved for the _really_ bad baddies. But why would it want Grover?"

Before anyone could think of an answer, a voice started coming out of the pit. It whispered words in some language I couldn't understand, and yet somehow, the malevolent aura suddenly began to increase. Somehow, I knew that I had to get away.

"Time to go," I said. We turned and started to run back up the tunnel. It was tough going, though…for some reason, my legs didn't work properly, and the air felt thick and heavy, almost as if I were running through Jell-O. Time seemed to be slowing down, and the voice was getting louder.

We finally made it to the tunnel opening – just in time, too. A huge wind erupted from the pit, pulling us towards it. My feet slid on the gravel; Pinkie barked and sank his teeth into the fabric of my jacket, keeping me from flying back down into the pit. We continued fighting our way out, until we'd escaped completely.

From behind us, a howl echoed out of the pit. Someone – or something – was obviously displeased that we'd gotten away.

"Well," I panted, "Whatever you did to deserve rotting in Tartarus, Grover, I don't want to know about it."

Percy shook his head, also panting heavily, and straightened up. "Come on. Let's go kick Hades's butt."

* * *

><p>As we reached the palace, doubt started to creep into my mind. What if I was wrong? What if I'd misinterpreted everything? Then again, what if I was right? The scary part was, I couldn't tell which would be the better option. They both looked pretty bad for me.<p>

Two skeletal servants holding machine guns turned to face us as we approached the entrance to the throne room.

"Um," Percy stammered, "can we talk to your boss? Please?"

The giant black doors flew open with a rush of wind.

"I guess that means _entrez-vous_," Annabeth said nervously. I saw Percy take a deep breath before he stepped in. I closed my eyes and breathed a quick prayer – I don't even know to who, to anyone bothering to listen, I guess – and followed.

I can't tell you what the throne room looked like. I didn't notice it at all. My gaze was immediately fixed on the god sitting in the throne at the front of the room. That he was a god was beyond any doubt. He was over ten feet tall, with pale skin and a cold, calculating expression. His jet-black robes matched his hair, which reached his chin.

His gaze was fixed directly on me.

We halted near the throne. After a second, Percy kneeled.

"Lord and Uncle, I come with two requests."

Hades's gaze shifted to my cousin, and he raised an eyebrow. "Only two? Selfish child – have you not already taken enough from me?" His voice was rich, resounding with power, and incredibly familiar. It brought back memories I didn't know I had – sitting on my mother's lap, hearing her sweet voice intermingle with this deep one…

"Go ahead," Hades was saying to Percy. "It amuses me to not kill you yet. I shall listen, and then strike you all dead. Except for Quinn, of course."

I bowed my head as my friends' eyes turned towards me. "Quinn?" Percy whispered. "What's he talking about?"

I glanced up at Hades to see his black, almond shaped eyes fixed on me. My eyes. As our gazes crossed, he nodded.

"I see. And when did you first realize, Quinn?"

I took a deep breath. "I think around the same time that I realized I had a hellhound for a pet."

"What?" Even Annabeth looked shocked at that. I turned away, not wanting to see their expressions.

"Show them, Pinkie." I didn't watch as he morphed into a monster. I didn't face my friends as I heard their gasps of shock. I kept my eyes on the god before us.

He nodded. "Yes. It was, of course, I who sold you Pinkie on your sixth birthday."

Percy grabbed my shoulders and turned to make me face him. "Quinn, what's going on?"

I sighed and took a step back. "Don't you get it, Percy? Think about it. Grover said I smelled like a monster. Well, he was almost right. I smell like underground."

"But what - "

I spread my arms wide, interrupting him. "No one trusts me. No one likes me. It's easy to see why – who likes or trusts death?"

His eyes widened, and I could tell that he was finally catching on.

"I'm the only one who feels comfortable down here. It's the same exact way that you feel comfortable in the ocean. It's your realm; this is my realm. I am princess of this kingdom." I turned to face Hades. "Aren't I?"

"Yes, Quinn," he nodded. "I am your father."

Thank you, Darth.


End file.
